All It Took
by joy1791
Summary: No one realized that one little girl would change the lives of two of New York's finest forever. Flack/Angell with a twist!
1. Chapter 1

A/N - Okay so this is my very first story so please be gentle. I'm a new fan to CSI NY so I'm still learning the background info and everything so excuse me if any details of the past are wrong. And also, even though this is a Flack/Angell, it takes place before the kiss!! Okay, thats it. HAPPY READING!!

Disclaimer - I don't own anything CSI NY related. Trust me, if I did it would be on every single night. LOL

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"You want me to do what?" Vanessa said as her eyes got wide.

"We want you to go into the Wesler warehouse," replied Britney

"For ten minutes straight." added Alex.

Vanessa looked backed at her two friends with disbelief. Well after what they were proposing they were going to be her former friends. She couldn't believe what they were saying.

"Are you serious?" she asked, just to be sure.

"As a heart attack," Alex replied with a smirk.

The trio stood in front of an old warehouse entrance that was down an alley in the middle of the city. Despite it being in the middle of the day, the warehouse was still seemed to be a dark and sinister place. The metal door was old and the surrounding bricks were well-worn.

Vanessa glanced up at the building and sighed. As much as she didn't want to do it, she knew that she would never hear the end of it if she backed out. She looked back at her two friends who stood patiently awaiting her answer.

"Fine" she said with a huff.

"Awesome'" Alex said while clapping her hands together.

She moved to open the metal door. As she did so it creaked loudly causing Vanessa to jump slightly. She leaned to peer inside the building and she saw what she had feared the most. Darkness. She didn't know what made her so scared of the dark but ever since she could remember it always made her nervous.

Sensing herself about to go into a panic attack, she tightened her grip on the soccer ball she held under her arm. Vanessa never went anywhere without it. Soccer was her true passion, the only thing that could make her forget about all the worries that plagued her life.

"Well, go on," Britney urged her.

_Well, it's now or never _Vanessa thought as she slowly moved inside the building.

She took a few steps inside and immediately felt her heart beat faster. She looked back at the two girls who were motioning for who to go in.

"Ten minutes?" she asked, just to be sure.

"Yup, that's it." Alex confirmed.

She looked back into the darkened building and swallowed. She slowly began to take a few more steps when she heard the familiar sound of the metal door creaking. All she saw was the sly grins on the girl's faces as they closed the door, cutting of the only source of light.

Vanessa ran back to the door but could not catch it as it closed completely.

"You guys!! This isn't funny. Come on, open the door!" Vanessa pleaded, but she received no response.

"Please!!" she continued, on the verge of tears.

After realizing that the door wasn't going to be opened, she turned back toward the building. With one last sigh, Vanessa gripped her soccer ball and made her way farther into darkness, hoping to find another exit. As she walked further she could hear her own heart beating.

_It's just a building, same in the light and in the dark_ she tried to convince herself. As she moved further, she noticed a dim light hanging from ceiling up ahead. As she neared it, she saw the row of lights that occupied the hallway.

She let out a sigh as she walked down the known lightened hallway. _Now, just to find a way out._

All of a sudden, Vanessa stopped in her tracks as she thought she heard a noise. She held her breath and listened to see if she could figure out what it was. She tiptoed further when she realized she was hearing the sounds of faint voices. She walked a few more feet more when she came across a door. She knew the voices were coming from inside the room and that she should probably should just walk away but her curiosity wouldn't let her. She gripped the door knob and slowly opened the door to peak inside.

She saw one man sitting down in a chair with his mouth taped and hands and feet bound together. There were two men in suits who had their back to the door who were talking to the man in the chair.

"So, you thought that we would ignore it if you didn't pay?" One of the suited men said. The man in the chair violently shook his head as if to say no.

"Well, I hope not because Sonny here hates it when people don't pay." The man said. The other man who was obviously Sonny merely nodded before taking out a gun and shooting the bounded man in the head.

Vanessa let out a loud gasp as the man slumped over and blood fell from his head. Before she could realize how loud she has been, the two suited men looked in the direction of the door.

Vanessa quickly backed away and ran towards the darker part of the hallway. She crouched in a corner as she saw the two suited men come out of the door. She held her soccer ball tight to her chest as she sat praying that she wouldn't be seen.

Things were quiet for a moment until the soccer ball suddenly became visible. She looked up and saw the suited man who had done the talking standing over her with a flashlight.

"Hello there, little girl." He said with a sinister smile.

Vanessa bolted out of the corner and ran as fast as she could down the dark hallway. She turned back and saw the suited man chasing her with the flashlight still in his hand.

"Come here little girl," he yelled after her.

Vanessa didn't stop, knowing that she had to find a way out of the building. She kept running until she saw a small window a few feet of the ground. She was about to reach it when the man violently grabbed her leg, tripping her up. She hit the floor with a thud and she could fell her knee scrape.

"Stop moving you little twerp." he said as she struggled against his hold.

"Let go," Vanessa yelled. She let out a shriek when his nails dug into her arm. She knew that she had to get away or he would kill her.

She stopped moving when she felt him push something into her back. She knew it was a gun.

"There, there little girl," he said as he turned her around to face him.

He held the gun pointed directly at her. Panicking, Vanessa looked around for something to use as a weapon but only saw her soccer ball, which gave her an idea.

"Your wasting your..," the man started but didn't get to finish due to the hard kick he had just received in the groin.

The man doubled over in pain while Vanessa grabbed her ball and climbed out the window. Once her feet hit the pavement she took off running, without looking back. She ran straight for a few blocks, fearing that she was still being chased. As she rounded the corner of the fourth block, she ran straight into someone, knocking her to her feet.

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Detective Don Flack headed toward the exit of the precinct with a sigh. His last case involved the brutal murder of an elderly couple and despite catching the murderer, he was still unhappy with the way the suspect showed no remorse.

_People these days _he thought as he left the building. He had just walked down the steps and was turning the corner when someone ran into his stomach with a thud. He stopped abruptly when he noticed it was a young girl maybe, eleven or twelve. She had fallen to the ground due to the force of their impact.

"Whoa, are you okay" Don asked as he bent to help the girl up. She was a pretty young girl with light brown skin and thick long black hair. Her hair went down to just below her waist. She looked up Flack with her bright green eyes. She was definitely of a mixed race.

"Yeah, um...can I...borrow a ... phone? Police," she said as she was trying to catch her breath.

"Whoa, slow down. Look, I'm a detective okay, so tell me what's going on." Don said, showing her his badge.

"Somebody …shot.. I ran. chased." she said, still struggling to catch her breath.

Noticing she was still out of breath Don took her by the hand.

"Listen sweetheart, why don't you come with me and we will work this all out, okay,"

Vanessa nodded and allowed herself to be lead inside of the police station.

Neither Don nor Vanessa realized that at that moment, both of their lives would change forever.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N – **Okay, first I just want to thank everyone who gave me a review. You guys are all awesome. And I'm glad you guys like Vanessa. Okay, so this chap. is a little short but I plan to upload chap. 3 tonight so keep a look out.

**Disclaimer – **No, I don't own CSI NY**. **Ugh!

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Don led Vanessa into the waiting room of the station. He sat her down in one of the chairs and then took his own seat directly across from her.

"Okay, so what's your name sweetheart?" Don asked her

"Um.. Vanessa Murray," she answered.

Don noticed her she still seemed a bit shaken up and her breathing was still fast. He also noticed the small scrape that she had on her knee.

"Okay Vanessa, I heard you say that somebody was shot, right?" he asked

"Yeah, down at the old Wesler warehouse," she told him, finally being able to get her breathing under control.

"The one on 45th?" Don asked her.

"Yeah,"

Don pulled out his police walkie talkie and requested that an officer go check out the scene.

"Okay Vanessa, I need you tell me everything that happened okay?"

Nodding, Vanessa began to tell Flack the whole story of what she had seen at the warehouse. Don knew right away what was going on and he didn't like it. Vanessa had clearly witnessed a mob hit and he also had an idea of who was behind it.

Flack knew that before he could do anything further with Vanessa, he had to get in contact with her parents.

"Okay, Vanessa, I need to call your parents, do you have their number?"

Vanessa hesitated a moment before speaking.

"Um...I don't really know my parents. I live down at the St. John's orphanage in Queens."

"Oh," was all Don could really say. But then he took in her appearance and it made sense. She was wearing a plain red t-shirt, cut off denim shorts, and a pair of worn high top black converse. He also noticed that she was holding a soccer ball in her lap.

"You like soccer?" he asked

For the first time since meeting Flack, Vanessa smiled.

"Yeah, it's the best sport ever." she said matter-of-factly.

Don couldn't help but smile at her.

All of a sudden a low grumble filled the room. Don gave Vanessa a small smile before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet.

"It's okay, you must be hungry. Here, go by yourself a snack out of one of those vending machines." he told her, handing her a couple of dollars.

"Thanks" she told him before walking over to the machines.

Don sighed and ran a hand over his face. He knew this was going to be a tough one, especially if he was right about who was behind all of this.

Don pulled out his cell and dialed the familiar number.

"Bonasera" answered the familiar voice.

"Hey Stell, its Flack, listen I got a witness to a murder at the Wesler warehouse down here..."

"Say no more, I'm on my way down." And with that she was gone.

Stella arrived in less than a minute with her kit in tow. She saw Flack seated in the lobby with a little girl.

"Flack," she said, making here presence known.

Seeing her Flack stood up and introduced her to Vanessa, who had returned for the vending machines, crunching on a bag of cheetos.

"Vanessa, this is my friend Stella, she is going to stay with you while I go to check out the crime scene okay."

"Hey Vanessa," Stella added.

Vanessa gave the older woman a small smile as she watched her set down her kit.

"Your going to check me for evidence aren't you?" Vanessa asked.

"Yeah, that's right. You're really smart. How old are you?" Stella asked.

"Eleven,"

"Wow, that's really cool," Stella said with a smile.

"Oh and Stell," Don told her in a hushed tone. "You're going to have to place a call down to child services before you start. Vanessa lives down at St. Johns orphanage and you need a representative her before you can start processing."

Stella nodded in understanding. "Don't worry, I got this."

Don smiled before waving goodbye to Vanessa.

On his way out of the door he heard his name being called. He smiled when he recognized the voice.

He turned around and came face to face with Detective Jessica Angell. She was standing behind him with a small grin on her face. Her long dark hair rested easily on her shoulders.

"Where are headed off to?" she asked him.

"I got a DB at the old Wesler warehouse."

"You want some company?"

"With you? Anytime." he answered her, all while flashing her a dimple.

Angell rolled her eyes playfully as the pair headed outside to Don's car.

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Don and Angell made their way to the warehouse in no time. When they arrived there was an officer standing outside.

Armed with their flashlights, the two detectives made their way inside of the darkened warehouse. They followed a path of evidence markers to a room that was farther down the hallway. They entered the room to find CSI Lindsay Monroe, leaning over the apparent victim, with her camera in her hand. She walked over to greet the two new arrivals.

"What do we got here Monroe?" Don asked

"Well, it seems to be a clean and quick mob hit. Victim has one bullet wound to the head. But hey, I hear you have a witness?" she asked.

"Unfortunately. She's an eleven year old girl" he said, frowning.

Angell let out a disappointed sigh. "She must be really traumatized about this whole thing."

"Yeah" Don agreed. "But she did say that one man called the shooter, Sonny."

Angell's head quickly turned to look at him.

"Sonny, as in mob boss Sonny Decartiay?" she asked

"I'm assuming, I mean this definitely fits his bill, you know." Don stated.

"Who is this Decartiay character?" Lindsay inquired, unaware of whom the two detectives were talking about.

"He heads up an underground drug smuggling company through his mob. This guy has been doing this for years, but that's because there is never enough evidence against him. He knows how to clean up after himself." Angell explained.

"So wait, if we have a witness, doesn't this put the odds in our favor?" Lindsay stated.

"It would, but every time we get a witness against him, something happens."

"Something meaning?" Lindsay asked.

"Something meaning the witness turns up dead." Don finished.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N – **I just want to thank anyone and everyone that is reading story. And to all my reviewers, you guys are the coolest. Thanks for supporting me on this one. Oh, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

**Disclaimer - **I don't own anything CSI NY related. :(

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After about an hour of processing, there was still no physical evidence at the warehouse that could be used against Sonny or his mystery accomplice. All they had was Vanessa's account of what had happened. The body of the victim had been transferred to the morgue. Lindsay was on her way there to talk to Sid about the details of the death.

It was nearing 5:00 when Flack and Angell finally made their way back to the station. They were both aggravated with the way the case was going so far. All they hoped was that Stella found something on Vanessa that they could use against Sonny.

As they entered the elevator to go up to the crime lab, Angell noticed Flack's growing frustration.

"You okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, though the tone of his voice said otherwise.

Angell raised an eyebrow at him as if to say _yeah right._

Don chuckled at her ability to read him so well.

"I guess, it's just…Jess, I can't help but think how much crap that little girl is going to have to deal with. I mean if we don't catch him, she's gonna be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life but if we do..."

"She'll have to testify." she finished for him. Flack nodded in agreement.

"Look, I don't know about you but I will feel better with these guys behind bars" Jessica said while placing a hand on Don's shoulder.

"Yeah, you're probably right,"

"Of course," she replied with a smirk

"A bit cocky are we?" Don said returning her smirk.

"You call it cocky, I call it confident," she said laughing. She looked up at Don with her big brown eyes and for a moment got lost in his blue ones. Something about his eyes caused her to forget everything that was going on.

Just then the elevator dinged, signaling that the pair had reached their destination. Angell snapped out of her little daydream to see Don giving her a small smirk.

"What?' she said as they walked out the elevator.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all" Don replied with a grin.

Jessica just laughed it off as the two rounded the corner and came to the break room where they saw Vanessa, Stella, and an unfamiliar woman. Don assumed she was the representative from child services.

"Hey guys," Stella said, making their arrival known to the other occupants of the room.

Vanessa looked up to see Don causing a smile to form on her face.

"Hi Flack,"

"Hey there sweetheart. Did you and Stella have fun?" he asked her.

"Uh, sure...for lack of a better term," she replied, causing the other people in the room to chuckle.

"Wow, you're pretty smart. By the way, my name is Jessica. I'm a detective like Flack." Angell said, introducing herself to Vanessa.

"A girl detective, that's pretty cool. I bet you kick butt"

"Yeah, I guess I do" Jessica answered laughing. "I see you play soccer," she continued, pointing to the soccer ball that the girl still held.

"Yeah,"

"That's cool. I was on the soccer team in high school" Angell told her.

"Really? What position?" Vanessa questioned, her green eyes brightening.

"Left fielder,"

"Hey, that's my position too,"

"Well, you'll have to show me your stuff one day," Angell told her, placing a hand on the young girl's shoulder.

Don smiled at the interaction between the two. Vanessa seemed to really like Angell.

_But hey, I can't blame her _he thought to himself.

"Um...excuse me detective but I believe I should introduce myself, I'm Vanessa's social worker, Maria Saldana." the woman said to Don as she shook his hand.

"Oh, forgive me. I'm Detective Don Flack and this is Detective Jessica Angell." he said returning the handshake.

Maria Saldana was an older, heavyset woman, probably in her late forties, early fifties. She had curly black hair that was pulled back in a bun. She wore simple khaki pants and a white blouse.

"Nice to meet you both. I was wondering if we could all talk in private." she requested.

"Of course. Hey Vanessa, we're just going to step into the hallway for a minute, okay" Don told her.

"Sure,"

Don, Jessica, Stella, and Mrs. Saldana all made their way into the hallway outside of the room. They all watched Vanessa through the glass windows as she grabbed the remote and began to find something suitable on the T.V that was perched on the wall in the break room.

"Mrs. Saldana, if you don't mind, could you tell me about Vanessa's background, like with her birth parents and stuff." Don asked.

"Well, Vanessa's birth parents were originally from Brooklyn. They were both 15 years old when Vanessa's mother became pregnant. They came to me right off the street and told me that they wanted to place the baby up for adoption. The day she was born, they named her and then left the hospital. I haven't heard from them since."

"Wow, that must be tough on Vanessa. Does she ever ask about her parents?" Stella commented.

"Well, not really. Vanessa never really had trouble accepting that fact that she's an orphan. She's a really tough girl. I'm sure you've noticed by now."

"Yeah, I have. I mean the whole time she was being processed, she was never really scared or anything." Stella said.

"Yeah, well Vanessa has comes to terms with the fact that she doesn't have an easy life. Instead of most kids who try to fight it, she just goes with the flow."

"That's so unfortunate. I mean no kid should have to feel like life is just going to be a big disappointment." Angell commented.

"Yeah it is unfortunate but can you blame her. Nowadays kids like Vanessa are harder to find families for. Most people adopt babies or go to other countries first" Mrs. Saldana replied.

Everyone silently agreed with the woman. Vanessa's life had been full of disappointments and she every reason to believe that the future was going to be the same way.

After a moment of silence, Stella finally spoke up.

"Well, I was able to find a hair on Vanessa's shirt that didn't belong to her. I sent it to Adam for testing. Hopefully we can get a hit off of it that could help us."

"Yeah, I hope so too, especially for Vanessa's sake." Don agreed.

"Do you think she is in some sort of danger Detective?" Mrs. Saldana asked after hearing the concern in his voice.

Don sighed before answering. "Well, despite having no evidence, we still have a pretty good idea of who is behind all of this. In the past, whenever there were witnesses, they all ended up being killed"

The bluntness in his statement caused Mrs. Saldana to gasp.

"However," Don continued, "As of right now, the people behind all of this don't know who Vanessa is. They saw her face but that won't tell them where she is or anything and I'd like to keep it that way."

Mrs. Saldana nodded her head in agreement.

"For right now, we will have an officer keep an eye out on the orphanage, just to be safe." Angell told the older woman.

"Well, I guess that will do for now." she replied. "So I can take Vanessa back now?"

Don nodded at the older woman.

The four adults made their way back into the break room to find Vanessa asleep in the office chair. Using her soccer ball as a pillow, she was curled up into ball, sleeping soundly.

The scene put a smile on everyone's face.

"She's had a long day," Stella commented with a smile.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Mrs. Saldana, I'll be happy to take her to your car." Don said in a hushed tone.

Mrs., Saldana thanked him as he went to the little girl and scooped her up in his arms. After Mrs. Saldana said her goodbyes to Angell and Stella, she and Don made their way downstairs and outside to her car. After placing her in the backseat, and buckling her seat belt, Don gently shut the door.

He started to walk away when Mrs. Saldana placed a hand on his arm.

"Thank you for everything, really"

"No problem, I was just doing my job."

Mrs. Saldana chuckled. "Well you're doing a good job. Vanessa really likes you."

Don raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"

"I've known Vanessa her whole life. The only times I have seen her eyes get brighter was when she was playing soccer. But when you walked in the room today, it happened. So that means she really likes you."

Don smiled sweetly at the woman.

"Well thank you,"

"Anytime," she replied before getting in her car and merging into the busy New York traffic.

He stood there watching them drive away until her heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned around to see Jessica standing on the steps of the station. He walked over to where she was standing.

"This is case is going to be tougher than we thought," she said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because of Vanessa's whole situation." she answered.

"Yeah," Don agreed before he remembered something from earlier. "I didn't know you played soccer in school"

Angell smiled before turning around to head back inside.

"There's a lot you don't know about me,"

"Are you gonna give me a chance to find out?" he asked smiling.

"I'll let you know."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N – **OMG!! All of the reviews I have been getting have been great so thank you. It really means a lot. It actually motivates me to post some more. So keep checking for updates. Happy Reading.

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY, but it would be really cool.

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Don finally arrived home a little after midnight. He slowly made his way into the apartment, exhausted with the day's events. He took of his suit jacket and hung it on the barstool that sat in the kitchen. He laid his gun and badge on the countertop. Loosening his tie, he went to the refrigerator and grabbed himself and cold beer, before going to take a seat on the couch. He grabbed the remote and put the T.V on a sports station, in attempt to take his mind off of the case.

Realizing that it was not working, he thought back to what had happened in the lab.

"_Hey, Adam, did you get a hit off of the hair I gave you?" Stella asked as she and Don made their way into the lab._

"_Uh, yup. Here you go," he said handing her a folder._

_Stella glanced at it before looking back at Adam, the disappointment evident on her face._

"_Are you sure?" she asked, needing confirmation._

"_Yup, I ran it twice. That hair belongs to a golden retriever, probably the most common dog in the world."_

"_Great." Don said sarcastically. "Even if we were to prove that the hair was a link to Sonny, anyone could argue that it was too common to be sure."_

_Stella nodded on agreement. "So, we're back at square one"_

And that was exactly where they were. Angell had gone to check with Lindsay to see if anything had come up with the victim but there was nothing. They hadn't even been able to identify him yet.

Don took another swig of his beer his thoughts moved towards Vanessa. Don had been on the force for years, and though there were victims that he had become close to, nothing compared to the way he thought about Vanessa. Something about that little girl made him feel like that it was not only his job to protect her, but his obligation.

Sighing, Don gave up on trying to fight sleep. Setting, the unfinished beer on the countertop, he slowly made his way into his bedroom, praying that tomorrow would bring better news.

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Jessica arrived home around the same time. She turned the key to open the door of her apartment building and gradually made her way up the two flights of stairs to her apartment. When she reached 3C, she used her key and opened the door. Setting her holster and badge on the side table went straight towards the bedroom. Moving into the master bathroom to brush her teeth, she remembered what had happened earlier.

_Angell had found Lindsay working on a computer in one of the rooms at the lab. _

"_Hey, Lindsay, did you get anything from the vic?" she asked, hoping she had found something._

"_Nope, Sid said it was a simple hit. There were bruises on his wrists, probably from where he was tied, but we didn't find any rope or anything at the scene. I'm running the victim's face through missing persons to see if we get anything."_

_As if on cue, the computer screen beeped, signaling it was done its search. Both women looked at the screen to see the words 'no match' looking back at them._

_Angell let out a large sigh. "This keeps getting harder and harder."_

Finished brushing her teeth, Jessica made her way back to her bedroom and changed into an old t-shirt. She climbed into bed, letting out a sigh when her head hit the pillow. She tried to close her eyes and fall asleep, but her brain had too many thoughts to do so.

She hated not being able to nab Sonny, even though she knew he was behind it. She also how hated how the whole thing was affecting Vanessa. She didn't like how the little girl had become so used to being disappointed that she wasn't upset by it anymore. At that moment, Angell made a promise to herself that she would do everything in her power to not let Vanessa down.

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Two days later, things had yet to turn around. No one had reported anyone missing that had even looked like the victim.

Don sat at his desk, trying to piece together everything they had, but nothing could link Sonny to the victim or the crime scene. He ran over his face, becoming frustrated with the whole case.

"Flack,"

Don's head shot up at the mention of his name. Standing in front of his desk, was none another than Vanessa, who was holding a newspaper in one hand and a soccer ball in the other.

"Hey Vanessa, what are you doing here?"

"Uh, well I kinda found something."

Don raised his eyebrow. "Really? What did you find?"

Vanessa laid the newspaper in front of Flack. It was opened to a page that featured an article about the opening of a new Italian restaurant. There was a picture of the owner under the article.

"I don't get, what does this place have to do with anything."

"That guy right there," she answered pointing to the owner "is the same guy that chased me."

Don's head shot up.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive" she replied.

"You know what Vanessa, you just made my day," he told her with a smile.

She shrugged. "I try"

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Ten minutes later, Don and Angell pulled into the parking lot of the Italian restaurant from the paper. Ceriano's was a nice and fancy restaurant that was probably too expensive for the average person.

When Don and Angell entered, they were greeted by a waiter.

"Hello and welcome to Ceriano's, do you have a reservation, or..."

"Look, you can save your little speech for the next customer. We need to speak with your owner" Don interrupted.

The waiter was thrown off for a moment but quickly recovered. "Certainly"

The waiter walked off leaving the two detectives standing at the front of the restaurant.

While waiting, Don picked up one of the menus from the podium.

"Now how is someone supposed to order when everything is in French?" Don inquired trying to read the menu.

"First of all, its all it's Italian," Angell corrected him.

"Oh well excuse me." Don said with a smile.

Angell was about to respond when a figure approached them.

The owner, John Ceriano, was a short and plump man. He wore a black suit with a lime green shirt and tie and smelled of cigars.

"Good afternoon, what can I do for you two lovely people." he said smiling.

"You can tell us about the murder that went down at the Wesler warehouse two days ago." Angell answered.

"Murder, I don't recall any murders."

"Well, our witness says you do," Don told him.

Both Don and Angell noticed the way he shifted and the anger became evident on her face.

"Look, I wasn't at the Wesler warehouse two days ago so whatever that little girl told you is a lie."

"Okay, okay," Don began "You see I would believe you but you just messed up big time."

"How so?" he asked curiously

"We never told you that the witness was a little girl." Angell answered.

Realizing his mistake, John's face immediately went pale.

Don walked behind him and put handcuffs on him.

"Your coming with us buddy." Don told him as he walked him out to the car.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N – **Once again, thank you to all my reviewers. You guys are awesome. Okay so here is chap 5. ENJOY!!

**Disclaimer **– I don't own CSI NY but it's on my Christmas list.

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"So why don't you tell us why Sonny killed that guy." Don said across the table.

He was talking to John Ceriano in the interrogation room of the station. So far he hadn't said anything.

"Look, you can sit here and not talk all you want. You're already going down with assault to a minor."

"I won't serve more than a year. Besides once Sonny finds her, you won't have a witness." he said with a smug grin on his face.

"What makes you so sure that he will find her, huh?"

"Never doubt Sonny. He won't sleep until he has her."

"Well I guess me and Sonny are a lot alike." Don told him "because I won't sleep until I get him."

Ceriano got quiet when he saw the look of determination on Flack's face.

Flack left the room and walked into the viewing room to join CSI Mac Taylor who had joined the investigation to help build their case against Sonny.

"Well he didn't admit that Sonny pulled the trigger but he didn't deny it either." Flack said.

"This would help a lot more if we had the victim's identity"

Don nodded in agreement.

The two men exited the room. "I'll go see if Stella or Lindsay found anything yet." Mac told Don before heading towards the elevator.

Don headed to his desk and took a seat in the chair. He noticed Angell walking towards him with a file in her hands.

"I'm about to make your day," she told him when she reached his desk.

"Wow Jess, we haven't even had our first date yet and you're already talking about going to third base." Don said with a smile.

"Wow Don you haven't even asked me out yet and you're already talking about our first date." she fired back.

"Touché. So, what do you got?"

"The identity of our vic."

"Really?" Don said as he sat up in his chair.

"Yup. Sean Ferguson. 28 years old. Reported missing yesterday." she read from the file before handing it to Don.

"Wait. If he was in the database, how come we couldn't find a match?" he asked confused.

"That's because he's from Jersey. I talked to his girlfriend on the phone and she said he was in the city for business."

"What kind of business."

"He told her insurance because he works with an insurance company but she thinks otherwise." she told him.

"Why?" Don asked.

"Well he had a problem with drugs ever since he was a teenager and has always gone to the city to meet with his supplier."

"Who is more than likely Sonny,"

"Bingo." Angell commented

"We should go tell Mac." Don said as he got out of his chair.

Angell nodded in agreement and the two detectives made their way to the elevator.

When they reached the lab, they found Mac and Stella along with CSI Danny Messer and CSI Sheldon Hawkes who had also joined the investigation.

"We've got good news." Don announced as he and Angell entered the room.

"Oh, do share." Stella said.

"We got the id of our vic." Angell told them handing the file to Mac.

"Great. So what do we know?" Stella asked.

Before Don could answer, Lindsay entered the room with a copy of the _New York Times _in her hand.

"We got a problem" she announced, the worry evident in her voice.

"Why, what's wrong," Danny asked.

"Look" she said placing the paper down on the table. On the front page was an article titled _Citizen Donates 100,000 to Local Orphanage._

"I don't get it. What's wrong with that?" Hawkes asked, speaking for the whole room.

"Look at the picture." Lindsay told them.

They all leaned over a starred at the picture. It was of the local orphanage that had apparently received the donation. Don's eyes scanned the picture when they landed on one particular child in the photo.

"Are you sure this is her." Don asked even though he already knew the answer.

"Just look at the caption." Lindsay told him.

Sure enough, the caption told him that it was in fact St. John's orphanage, the same one that Vanessa lived in.

"So if Sonny sees this," Angell started.

"He'll know where to find Vanessa." Don finished.

________________________________________________________________________

After realizing the danger Vanessa was now in, Flack, Angell, and Stella all headed to the orphanage to bring her back to the station. They had hoped that Sonny hadn't discovered the article yet but they didn't want to take any chances. After pulling into the parking lot, the three officers all made their way to the gate of the orphanage. They were approached by a nun who had been outside at the time of their arrival.

"Hello, how may I help you." she greeted them.

"Were looking for Vanessa Murray," Don told them while showing her his badge.

"Oh, Vanessa not here right now. She went down to the park just down the street?" she told him.

Flack, Angell, and Stella all began to panic when they realized the intensity of the situation.

"Was she alone?" Stella asked her.

The nun hesitated, knowing that it was against the rules to allow an orphan Vanessa's age out alone.

"Well yes but..." she started but was cut off by Angell pulling out her police radio. She began requesting that an officer go down to the park due to the possibility of child abduction.

Stella looked at her watch and realized it was nearing five o'clock.

"Don, its rush hour. It's going to take too long for an officer to get down there." Stella told him.

"Meet me down there." he told them before taking off running in the direction of the park.

It Don less than a minute to get to the park. Looking around he realized it was empty. His eyes scanned around for any signs of Vanessa but he didn't see her. Then his eyes landed on something that put a strain on his heart.

There, sitting on a park bench, was Vanessa's soccer ball.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N **– Okay, I know you guys are anxious to find out what happens so I'll make this short. Thank you to everyone who reviewed so far!! HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY, just in my dreams.

________________________________________________________________________

Without hesitating, Flack pulled out his police radio and broadcasted that a child abduction had just taken place. He ordered that all units respond immediately knowing that in abduction, the first hour is crucial. He looked around the playground one more time, hoping that Vanessa was somehow still there. His heart couldn't take that fact that she might actually be gone.

At that moment, Angell and Stella pulled up and ran over to Flack.

"She's gone," Flack informed them, his voice filled with anger.

"I'll go call the team and start processing," Stella said before running back to the car.

Angell stood there with Don. The look on his face was one she had never seen. It was look of both rising anger and pure determination. But at the same time, she realized that he own heart beat was steadily growing. She knew exactly how Don was feeling and it was a feeling that she never wanted to feel again. She was determined to do all that she could to get that little girl back.

"Angell, I swear to God if he lays a hand on her..." he said trailing off.

"We'll find her Don," Angell said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"If it's the last thing I do," he told her before walking back towards the car.

By that time, the rest of the team as well as numerous NYPD cops had arrived on the scene.

"Okay, I want this whole area canvassed. Make sure you don't miss anything. The life of this little girl is in jeopardy and we need to find her before its too late." Don commanded the officers.

Nodding, each officer began to search the area for clues. They also had police dogs with them, hoping that they could tell them what direction Vanessa was taken.

Don walked backed over to Stella.

"Did you find anything yet?" he asked her, hoping she had.

"No, there isn't a single sign of her anywhere, Flack."

Flack sighed in frustration as Danny approached him carrying Vanessa's soccer ball in an evidence bag.

"Hey, I'm gonna take this back to the lab to see if I can get anything off of it."

"Yeah, okay." Don answered him.

Danny patted Don on the shoulder before walking back to the SUV. He hated seeing Don like this.

The drive back to the station was a short one, so Danny arrived there in about 10 minutes. When he entered the lab and started walking to the elevator he froze. He glanced at the chairs in the waiting room, eyeing two people. He walked closer and immediately recognized one of them.

"Vanessa Murray?"

________________________________________________________________________

Don's optimism continued to dwindle as the canvas search came up empty. He made his way over the Angell who has just received word that the police dogs weren't able to pick of Vanessa's scent anywhere.

"What do you want to do now Don?" she asked him.

Before he had a chance to answer, his phone rang.

"Flack,"

"Hey Don, its Danny. Call off the search, Vanessa's here at the station." Danny said quickly.

"What?" Don asked, not believing what he had just heard.

"She's here man. She's fine."

Hearing those words, Don couldn't help but release the breath he felt like he had been holding since discovering that Vanessa was missing.

"Okay, I'm on my way." he told Danny before hanging up.

"What's up?" Angell asked, noticing his change in disposition.

Don smiled at her. "Vanessa's fine. She's down at the station with Danny."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah"

Angell let out a loud sigh of relief, grabbing the attention of some f the nearby officers.

"What's going on" Stella asked, noticing as well.

Flack filled her in on what was going on.

Noticing how anxious the two detectives seemed, she told them "Look, I'll close up shop here. You guys go ahead and see her"

Silently thanking her, Don and Angell made their way back to the car and headed to the station.

When they entered the station, they both immediately began scanning the lobby for Vanessa. They saw her and Mrs. Saldana sitting there, talking to Danny. Vanessa was laughing at something Danny was saying before she looked over and saw Don and Angell. She immediately got up and ran over to them giving Don a big hug that he was eager to return. She also gave Angell a hug who couldn't help but laugh.

"I heard you guys thought I was missing." she told them.

"Yeah, and you better not do that again you little rascal." he told her playfully.

Vanessa put her hand over her heart, pretending to be hurt. "I am not a rascal."

"Yeah you are. But don't worry. It means I think you're special." he told her.

"Oh, so you must call Angell little rascal too, right?" she asked him, causing both him and Angell to slightly blush.

Before either detective could respond, Mrs. Saldana came over to them.

"I'm so sorry detectives. Mr. Messer explained what was happening. I feel awful."

"Oh, don't worry Mrs. Saldana," Angell informed the older woman. "It was just a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding indeed. I was headed to the orphanage when I saw Vanessa at the park. I picked her up and we headed out for ice cream. Then we came her to see how the case was going." she explained.

"What. You guys got ice cream and didn't bring me any. Vanessa how could you?" Don asked playfully.

Vanessa giggled at Don's antics.

"So wait, if you left the park, was that your soccer ball we found?" Angell inquired.

"Um. Nope. It isn't mine because mine is…" she trailed off, looking around for her ball.

"Oh, Mrs. S I think I left it in your car." she told her.

"Oh, no problem. I go with you to unlock it." Mrs. Saldana told the young girl.

"Hey Angell, I just learned this new trick, you wanna see it?"

"Of course" Angell answered as they all headed for the exit.

Just then, Don's phone began to ring.

"You guys go ahead. I'll meet you out there." he told them before answering.

"Flack,"

"Hey, Don. It's Mac. So I hear Vanessa's okay."

Don smiled, "Yeah, she and her social worker were here the whole time."

"Well, that's good. That explains why we didn't find anything at the park."

Don was about to answer when the loud sounds of gunshots rang through the station. Don immediately dropped the phone and ran outside along with other officials that were in the precinct at the time. When he got outside he heard the sounds of a car screeching. All he saw was the back of a black town car speeding away. He looked down and his heart completely stopped at the sight of the two motionless bodies on the pavement.

**A/N - **Two cliff hangers in a row!! I'm so mean. LOL


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N – **Okay, that was probably the last cliffhanger I'll throw at you for a while, or not. LOL. And sorry for taking so long to update. School started again but I will still try to update as much as possible. Anywho, thanks for the reviews! HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY, darn it!

________________________________________________________________________

They say that there are moments in life that make you rethink everything. Moments that make you realize why you are put on the earth. Not everyone has those moments, but the ones that do are extremely fortunate. They are fortunate because these moments provide people with the realization that they never would have had otherwise. These realizations often grant people with something that they would never have been able to live without. Or someone.

Detective Don Flack had just had one of those moments. Hearing those gunshots made Don sick to the stomach, something that had never happened before. The moment he got outside, he saw Angell and Mrs. Saldana lying motionless on the pavement, but his instincts lead him to Vanessa, who sat on the pavement, clutching her wrist.

"Are you okay?" he asked panicking.

"Yeah, I feel on my wrist when Angell pushed me out the way" she told him, the pain evident in her voice, something that crushed Don's heart.

Don moved over to Angell, who was slowly regaining consciousness.

"Oh, God, Jess" he said, noticing the blood seeping through the cream-colored blouse she wore.

"Don, I'm fine. It's just a graze." she told him, her voice weak.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" Don yelled.

"There on the way" Mac told him.

Don just began to notice all of the other officers who had come to stand outside. He looked over to find Stella leaning over Mrs. Saldana.

"She lost a lot of blood," she announced, catching the attention of Vanessa.

She stared at Mrs. Saldana as she laid on the sidewalk, bleeding form the chest. She felt her self becoming sick to the stomach, looking at the only person who ever really cared about her. She felt the tears begin to stream down her face as she watched Mrs. Saldana's breathing slow down.

"It's okay," Don told her, coming to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Vanessa didn't respond, but instead just watched as the ambulance pulled up and the paramedics began to place her on the stretcher and take her to the hospital.

________________________________________________________________________

Vanessa sat in the waiting room of the hospital, staring at the cast that the doctors had placed on her left wrist.

Don sat beside her, worried. She hadn't said a word since they arrived at the hospital.

"Hey Don," a voice said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Don looked up to see Angell approaching them, a small smile on her face. He stood up and frowned when he noticed the large bandage on her arm.

Before he could say anything, Angell interrupted him, "Don't start stressing yourself over this, okay. I'm fine." she told him before looking over at Vanessa. "How's she holding up?" she asked him.

"Not good Jess. I mean she hasn't said a single word."

"Well, this is a lot for an eleven year old to handle." she told him.

He nodded in agreement.

"I see your doing better, Angell" Danny announced as he moved to where they were standing.

"Where's everybody else." Don questioned.

"Down at the scene, processing." he told them

Just then a doctor approached the group. He introduced himself as Dr. Golding.

"How is Mrs. Saldana?" Don asked.

"I'm sorry to tell you but this but she isn't doing very well. She's conscious right now, but the bullet penetrated a major vein. She won't be able to recover from the blood loss." he informed them silently.

"She did however," he continued, "request to speak to a Vanessa Murray."

Vanessa looked up at the mention of her name.

She got up slowly and followed the doctor to the room.

The three adults sat in silence as they waited for Vanessa to return. She did so about five minutes later, looking even worse.

Don was about to say something, when she spoke to him.

"She wants to talk to you," she told him, her voice barley above a whisper.

Don was a little surprised at the woman's request but obliged anyway.

He got up and entered the room quietly. Mrs. Saldana lay in the hospital bed, looking frail and weak.

"Don," she said quietly.

Don moved over to stand beside the woman.

"I need you to do something for me." she told him.

"Anything," he answered.

"When the time comes for you to make that decision, follow your heart."

Don raised his eyebrows in confusion. "What decision?"

"You'll know" she told him.

________________________________________________________________________

Don walked back to the waiting room after his talk with Mrs. Saldana, still a little confused about what she meant.

"You okay?" Danny asked him, noticed the perplexed look on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you get in touch with her family?" he asked, taking a seat next in between Angell and Vanessa.

"She really didn't have any. Mr. Saldana passed away three years ago and there isn't any record that she had any kids." he told him.

Don sighed. It was unfortunate that Mrs. Saldana didn't have any close family. She was definitely a sweet and caring woman.

Angell placed a comforting hand on Don's shoulder, reading his mind.

Don gave her a small smile, silently thanking her for the sweet gesture. He couldn't help but think of how much Angell has done over the past few days. The memories alone caused him to smile even bigger.

"Hey, crime stopper. What's got you smiling so much?" Danny asked, noticing his change in expression.

Don just ignored him as his thoughts slowly started to shift towards Vanessa. He looked at her as she sat beside him. She just sat there with a blank expression on her fast. He was about to say something when Angell stopped him.

"I got this one" she whispered to him before speaking to Vanessa. "Hey Vanessa, you come outside with me, to you know, get some air?"

"Sure," she answered quietly.

The two of them got up and made their way outside. They found a bench located near a tree outside of the hospital. They took a sit and sat in the cool summer night air. Even in the middle of July, the city was always cooler at night, seeing how it was nearing 9:00.

"So, you feel like talking," Angell asked after they sat for a few minutes.

Vanessa hesitated before speaking. "It's my fault." she began, her voice barely over a whisper. "If I had just remembered my ball, then..." she stopped, not wanting to finish.

Angell eyed her for a moment before reaching over and embracing the little girl in a tight hug. Vanessa returned the hug, as her tears began to fall.

"Shhh, its okay, just let it out," Angell told her, "Listen to me, okay. It's not your fault. None of this is. I don't ever want you to think that okay"

"Yeah," Vanessa said into her shoulder.

Angell leaned back to look Vanessa in the eye. She used her hand to wipe the tears off her face.

Vanessa gave her a small smile, before leaning back into Angell. The two sat there a while longer, unaware of the pair of eyes watching them.

Don had came outside to check on the two but stopped when he saw that they were have a pure sentimental moment. Don just stood and watched as Angell comforted Vanessa. He was amazed to see how natural she was when it came to being around Vanessa. He didn't know how to describe the scene that was playing out before it but he did know that he wouldn't mind bearing witness to more in the future.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N – **I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story. Well, here's chap. 8. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY, but I am interested in purchasing. Just kidding. 

________________________________________________________________________

Later that night, Mrs. Saldana passed away peacefully. Fortunately, Mac was able to track down her sister, Lucy, who still lived in Mexico. Upon Lucy's request, the body was flown there so that she could be buried with her husband and the rest of her family. Flack was disappointed that there wasn't going to be a funeral service in New York because he had hoped that it would give Vanessa some sort of closure.

Flack sat at his desk the next day going over Vanessa's case file again. They still hadn't been able to find any hard evidence. The bullet that Dr. Golding had given them from Mrs. Saldana's body, didn't match any registered guns in the system. Flack knew that it was an unregistered gun that killed the woman and he also knew that Sonny was behind it, in an attempt to kill Vanessa.

Flack let out a sigh. After the shooting, Vanessa was placed in a foster home that only a few people in the department, including Angell, Mac, and Flack, knew about. Though the foster home was located in the outskirts of the city that and was being watched by the police, he still wouldn't feel that she was safe until they caught Sonny and put him behind bars.

"You seem deep in thought," a voice said.

Flack looked up to see Angell standing on the other side of his desk, dressed in jeans and a simple grey t-shirt.

"Hey, what are you doing here, aren't you off?" he asked her.

"Yeah, but I figured I would stop by to see how the case was going,"

"Not good. Jess, we don't have anything on this guy."

Angell nodded in understanding, feeling his frustration.

Don checked his watch, noticing it was nearing noon.

"Hey Jess, I was about to go grab some lunch, wanna join me?"

"I know just the place," she answered him.

Don smirked. "You always do,"

________________________________________________________________________

Vanessa sat at the table of her foster home, picking at the grill cheese sandwich that her new foster mother, Crystal Wiggins, made her. Ms. Wiggins, or Ms. Crystal, the name she directed Vanessa to call her, was a sweet middle-aged African-American woman. She worked as a first-grade teacher at the local elementary school. The people working Vanessa's case were eager to place Vanessa with her because being a teacher, she had the summertime off, which would allow her to keep a close eye on her.

"You're not hungry sweetie?" Ms. Crystal asked, noticing how little Vanessa had been eating.

"No. not really," she answered quietly.

Ms. Crystal was about to respond when the phone rang.

"What….is he okay……alright, I'll be there in five minutes," Ms. Crystal spoke into the phone.

"Hey Vanessa," she started after she hung up, "John isn't feeling good, so I am going to go pick him up from camp. Will you be okay?"

John was her thirteen year-old son. He was enrolled in the local community camp.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Vanessa told her.

Ms. Crystal nodded and quickly grabbed her keys.

"I'll tell the officer keeping watch that I'm running out," she announced before running out the door.

Once she left, Vanessa got up and threw the rest of her sandwich away. Ever since Mrs. Saldana passed away, she just didn't feel like eating. She went and sat on the floral sofa that sat in the living room of the Wiggins household. She tried to watch some T.V. but her mind kept wandering.

She still felt extremely guilty about Mrs. Saldana. She knew that it wasn't really her fault but it still hurt. She had known Mrs. Saldana all her life and always looked at her like a mother or grandmother. Now she didn't have anyone. Well, she really liked Detective Flack and Detective Angell but she never let her self think more about that because she knew it would never happen.

The slamming of a car door broke her out of her thoughts. She got up and made her way to look out of the window that faced the driveway of the house. She saw that the police officer had got out of the car and made his way over to another car that had pulled up in front of the house. Vanessa gasped when she recognized that the car.

________________________________________________________________________

Flack and Angell sat in a booth located in a small diner a few blocks away from the precinct. They sat, sipping coffee, waiting for their meals.

"So, how's your arm?" Don inquired while taking a sip of his coffee.

'Oh, its fine. I should be able to get the bandage off in a week or so."

Don sat his cup down before continuing. "Look, Jess, I never thanked you for what you did yesterday."

Angell raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What did I do?"

"Vanessa told me how you pushed her out of the way."

"You would have done the same thing," she told him.

Don smiled. "In a heartbeat."

Angell was about to respond when Don's phone rang.

"Flack." he answered.

"Flack, its Vanessa" her voice came through the phone in a panic whisper, causing Flack to immediately tense up.

"What's wrong?" he asked her in a hurry, gaining questioning looks from Angell.

"There are these guys here… the same car..." she stammered.

"Vanessa, slow down, I can't understand you."

"This car pulled up and the police guy that was here got out and talked to him and there both heading towards the house. The car is that same one that they used to shoot Mrs. Saldana." she explained.

Now Don understood exactly what was happening.

"Okay, where are you now?" he asked her as he got up out the booth, motioning for Angell to come with him.

"I'm hiding under Ms. Crystal's bed."

"Okay, stay there. We're on are way." he told her before hanging up.

"What in the world is going on?" Angell asked as they reached Don's car.

"I'll explain on the way."

________________________________________________________________________

Don and Angell pulled up to the Wiggins home about fifteen minutes later. When they got there, the SWAT team and other members of the NYPD were already there after receiving the broadcast Flack sent out on his police radio. Flack and Angell went up to talk the SWAT team leader, Eric Rodgers.

"What do we got so far?" he asked.

"Well, two armed suspects in the residence, one identified as Sonny Decartiay and one as Officer Ray Lemind." Rodger explained.

"Wait, Officer Lemind, so does that mean we got a rogue cop?" Angell asked.

"Looks like it. My guys pulled some background info and it turns out that he has had a lot of opportunities to meet up with Sonny."

"Okay, but right now we need to focus on getting that little girl out of there." Flack told them.

They both nodded in agreement. Rodgers explained to the detectives their plan of action.

"Okay, but let me get the girl" Flack told him, the seriousness in his voice leaving no room for questioning.

Flack, Angell, and the rest of the officers slowly approached the house all wearing protective vests and guns drawn. When they reached the door, Flack motioned for two officers to go around back.

On the count of three, Flack broke down the door and began to enter the house.

"This is NYPD, we know you're in here" he shouted as they began to raid the house.

Flack moved toward the back bedroom and found Sonny and Officer Lemind, gun drawn, waiting for them.

"Drop your weapons, and put your hands up!" he commanded.

"Not until I get what I came for!" Sonny shouted back. "I'm gonna find that little girl and kill her because of all the trouble she caused me."

Flack realized that neither of the suspects realized that Vanessa was under the bed, and he hoped to keep it that way.

"Look," Rodgers, who was standing next to Flack, started. "If you don't drop your weapons, we will shot you!"

"Not if I kill you first!" Sonny yelled, preparing to fire his gun.

Before he could even shoot it, Flack and Rodgers both fired their weapons at Sonny, hitting him square in the chest.

The old man fell forward and collapsed instantly. Officer Lemind, seeing that they weren't bluffing, immediately dropped his weapon and surrendered.

While Rodgers went to apprehend Lemind, Flack quickly dropped to his knees and looked under the bed.

He saw Vanessa lying on her stomach shaking uncontrollably with fear.

"Come on, its okay." he told her softly.

Once she saw Flack, she immediately shot out from under the bed and fell right into his arms, hugging him tightly.

Flack held her close to him, showing that hew would never let go.

"Shhh, its okay. It's over."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N – **Thank to everyone who has been reviewing this story. I hope you all are enjoying it! HAPPY READING!!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY *sighs*

________________________________________________________________________

"_Shhh, its okay. It's over."_

And that's exactly what it was. Sonny was pronounced dead at the scene. Officer Lemind had immediately been arrested and charged with attempted murder along with many other charges. It turned out that he had been breaking his oath long before working with Sonny. Because of his long lists of charges, Vanessa wouldn't be needed in court.

Don was extremely grateful for that. He had hoped that Vanessa would be able to move past this whole ordeal, hell, he was hopeful that he would be able to move past this whole ordeal.

Sitting on his couch, he flipped through the local news channel. After the raid, he was given the next two days off, which was definitely a surprise. He couldn't even remember the last time he had had a day off. He glanced at the clock that sat on his side table. 9:38 am. He sighed, not knowing what to do with all this free time. He got up and decided that it was time to get out of the sweatpants that he had slept in and get dressed.

After showering and getting dressed in jeans and a grey t-shirt, Don headed out, knowing that he would go crazy if he sat in his apartment any longer. He got in his car and decided to go to the precinct and work on the paperwork that has been long overdue. As he neared it, his mind drifted to Vanessa, something that had been happening a lot lately. As much as he enjoyed the fact that the case was over, it saddened him that it meant there time together was over.

As he neared the precinct, instinct to over and he made a quick turn and headed in the opposite direction.

________________________________________________________________________

Vanessa sat on the back steps of the orphanage that led to the large play area. Since it was summer, most of the kids spent their time outside. With her soccer ball resting in between her feet, Vanessa glanced down at her wrist, the green cast full of signatures from her friends.

Vanessa sighed as she thought back to the past week. So much had happened that it was hard to make sense of it all. Sitting there watching her peers, her mind began to wander aimlessly until a voice broke her out of her daydream.

"What's up kiddo?"

Vanessa turned around and smiled at the sight of Don coming out of the back door of the orphanage, taking a seat next to her on the steps.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Can't a guy just visit his favorite eleven year when he wants to?" he said with a smile.

"I'm guessing you don't know many eleven year olds." she stated.

Don shrugged. "Not really but even if I did, you'd probably be my favorite." he said with a wink.

"You better save all your sweet talking for Detective Angell." she told him.

Don grinned at the young girl. "Anyways," he started, completely changing the subject, "How have you been doing?"

"O.k., I guess. It's weird because after all that happened, it's been really boring around here, you know." she replied.

Don nodded in agreement. "Well you never know, something interesting just may happen."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah right, the most interesting thing that has ever happens here is when somebody gets sick all over one of the nuns."

Her statement caused Don to laugh out loud. "Well, that is pretty interesting."

________________________________________________________________________

Don arrived home about an hour later. After he left the orphanage he drove home in a complete daze. He kept thinking about what was going to happen to Vanessa. More than likely, she would remain in the system until she was eighteen. At that point she would be put out of the system and be expected to be able to make a living on her own.

Placing his keys on the kitchen counter, he moved went to the second bedroom of his apartment and sat down at the desk. He logged into his laptop and pulled up Google. He stared at the page for a minute, trying to decide of he really was going to do what he was thinking about doing.

After about another moment of staring he typed in the word that had been the center of all of his thoughts throughout that day.

_Adoption_

________________________________________________________________________

Don spent the next few hours reading up about the entire process. He kept telling himself that it was just curiosity, that he was not really planning to about.

Just then the phone rang.

"Flack," he answered.

"What ever happened to hello?" the voice on the other end asked.

Don silently cursed himself for forgetting to realize that it was his landline that rang.

"Sorry Ma, bad habit" he said sheepeishly.

"I know, I know, the life of a cop. Anywho I just called to see whats going on in the life of my little Donnie." she told him.

Don couldn't help but smile at his mother's personality. Christine Flack was probably the most positive person that he knew.

"Nothin much, Ma." he told her.

The silence he heard told him that his mother knew he was holding back.

"Alright, alright." he gave in. "Remember that case I was telling you about?"

"The one with the little girl?" she inquired.

"Yeah, well we solved it." he told her.

"Well, I'm guessing from your tone that there is a little more to this story."

Once again, Don smiled at his mother's ability to read him. "I don't know Ma, I just keep thinking about Vanessa, you know. I mean, how is she supposed to go back to living life normally, like nothing ever happened. She deserves a better life than that."

"So adopt her" she said bluntly.

Don was surprised at his mother's frank statement.

"What! I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Well… what do I know about raising a kid, and I mean I got my job and everything." he told her.

"None of that is important when it comes to matter of the heart. Do you love her?" she asked him.

"As if she was my own." he told her, not a hint of hesitation in his voice.

"Then I guess my work here is done"

________________________________________________________________________

After the conversation with his mother, Don was more confident in his thoughts about adopting Vanessa. Sure, there were things that would be a challenge but he would have to work through it.

Getting up from his laptop, Don made his way into the kitchen. Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, he made found himself sitting on the couch.

As he sat there, he kept picturing himself as a father. The thought both excited him and made him nervous. He knew that he would love Vanessa like she was his own but he didn't know anything about eleven year olds, especially females. He sighed, losing the confidence about adopting that he had gained moments earlier.

As he sat there, he remembered something.

"_When the time comes for you to make that decision, follow your heart."_

The words of the late Mrs. Saldana rang in his head. He smiled when he realized that what the woman had told him had to do with his decision about Vanessa. And about another woman too.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N – **Thanks again for all the reviews. I tried to update fast because I know you are all curious to see what Flacks going to do. HAPPY READING!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY because if I did, Angell would so be in the opening credits.

________________________________________________________________________

Stella sat at her desk the next day going over paperwork when a knock interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see Flack standing in her doorway.

"Hey, I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow." she greeted him.

"Yeah, well I wanted to ask you something Stell." he told her, moving into her office.

"Ask away,"

Don took a seat in the chair on the other side of her desk.

"Well, its kinda personal." he told her.

Stella eyed him curiously. "Personal how?"

"I wanted to ask you about growing up as an orphan."

Stella was a little surprised by Don's statement but quickly replied. "Can I ask why?"

Don hesitated before talking. "I'm thinking about adopting Vanessa."

Stella's eyes widened in shock at Don's statement.

He let out a small chuckle. "Surprising, I know. I'm still having a hard time believing that I am even considering it."

After recovering from the shock, a large grin formed on Stella's face. "Well, I think its great Don."

"Really?" he questioned.

"Yeah Don, I really do. I mean, she needs you."

Don nodded in agreement. "I need her too."

________________________________________________________________________

Don spent the next hour talking to Stella about the entire adoption process. He was somewhat familiar with it, but he knew Stella was more informed. Turns out that it was a rather long process. He had to work on becoming a certified foster parent before he could file for adoption.

On his to the elevator, he spotted a familiar brunette waiting for it. When he came up behind her, he tapped her left shoulder before moving to stand on her right. He chuckled when she looked to her left, a little confused, before noticing that he was standing next to her.

Angell couldn't help but chuckle along with him.

"I thought you were off today."

"Yeah, I was but I had to talk to Stella about something." he told her.

Angell simply nodded, not prying the subject, though she wanted to.

"So, where are you headed?" he asked as the elevator arrived.

"Home, I was supposed to be off to, but I just came to finish some paperwork." she told him as the two made their way into the elevator.

"So, how about you let me buy you lunch"

Angell smirked at him before answering. "I guess so."

________________________________________________________________________

The pair settled on a local restaurant a few blocks from the station. After placing there orders, Angell noticed how Don seemed to be deep in thought.

"What's on your mind?"

"Jess, I'm thinking about adopting Vanessa." he told her.

Don saw the shock register on Angell's face. "Really?"

"Yup" he said with a small smile.

"Well, congratulations Don. I think it a really good idea."

"Thanks. I mean I'm excited and all but at the same time…"

"You're scared." she finished.

Don nodded in agreement. "I get nervous thinking about it you know. I mean, what do I know about raising an eleven year old girl. I mean, maybe there's a better family out there for her who could provide more for her you know."

Angell placed her hand over Don's much larger ones. "Listen, don't sell yourself short alright. You'll make a great dad. Vanessa's really lucky."

"And that's the other thing. Maybe she doesn't even want me to adopt her. Maybe she doesn't want to be adopted period." he continued.

"Don, do you hear yourself? Of course she wants you to adopt her. Why wouldn't she? And you shouldn't be scared alright. You're not in this by yourself. You got me. Plus you know the whole team will be supportive." she comforted.

Don looked Angell in the eyes and could see the honesty that lay behind them.

"Thanks Jess."

"Your welcome." she told him. Silence came over the pair as they sat there. Angell just enjoyed the tingling feeling that was coming from her hand. When she realized it was because her hand still rested on Don's she blushed and quickly removed.

"Sorry" she said bashfully.

"Don't worry about it." he replied staring her in the eyes, almost causing her to forget what they were talking about.

"So," she began, quickly changing the subject. "Have you told Vanessa yet?"

Before he could answer, the waitress had brought them their meals.

"No, not yet. I don't know if I should do it now or after I'm approved and everything."

"You should do it now. Let her be apart of the process, you know." she suggested.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I want her to be apart of it."

"Well that's good, she should be." she said.

"So should you." Don stated simply.

Angell looked up from the chicken salad she ordered in surprise. "What?" she asked confused.

Don ignored her as he leaned over the table to place a small kiss on her lips. The minute his lips touched hers, a jolt of electricity ran through her body. He lingered for a moment before pulling back and settling in his seat.

Angell wanted to speak, but she hadn't recovered from the kiss. She looked up at Don, who was staring back at her with his bright blue eyes. They were full of passion and admiration, two traits that described the feelings that Angell had for Don. She had always found him to be incredibly handsome and genuinely nice, but at that moment, she discovered a new feeling that she had grown to have for him. A feeling that both scared her and excited her at the same time.

Noticing that she had been silent for a while, Don spoke up. "Are you okay?"

Angell didn't respond but instead leaned over the table to place a kiss him, this time with a little more intensity that before. Don was eager to return the kiss.

After breaking apart, Angell answered his question.

"Great."

________________________________________________________________________

Vanessa lay on her bed, throwing her soccer ball up in the air. She sighed when yet another attempt to catch the ball failed and the ball fell onto the floor.

"Stupid cast." she muttered. She thought it was cool having a cast at first, but now it was just annoying.

Making no move to get it, Vanessa rolled over on her sighed. She laid there for a moment, savoring the silence of the large room, something that was rare when a bedroom was shared between 16 girls. Everyone else was downstairs watching a movie that Vanessa had seen millions of time. _One of the privileges of being here my whole life _she thought to herself.

"Vanessa," a voice spoke, breaking her thoughts.

Vanessa looked up to see Sister Mary Roberts standing in the doorway.

"I've got good news." she told her.

Vanessa eyebrows raised in question. "What is it?"

"There someone here who interested in adopting you." the old woman said with a smile.

"Really?"

Sister Roberts nodded and motioned for Vanessa to follow her.

Rolling out of bed, Vanessa picked up the soccer ball before doing so. She followed Sister Roberts out of the room and down the stairs that led to the main hallway. She was led into the small office located in the front of the orphanage. When she walked in she saw Flack seated in one of the lobby chairs. She looked around, but didn't see anyone else.

She looked back at Flack, confused. "What are you doing here?" she questioned.

"I'm here about to adopt my favorite eleven year old." he told her with a smile.

Flack didn't have time to prepare himself when Vanessa quickly threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug. Flack eagerly returned the hug to his daughter.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N – **Thanks again to anyone and everyone who is reading my story. I'm glad you guys are enjoying it. And thanks to all my lovely reviewers. You guys are too funny. (I'm talking to you to **Montana Angell **:)) So here is chapter eleven. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY, just Vanessa so I guess I'll be alright.

_______________________________________________________________________

**Two weeks later—**

Don paced nervously around his apartment, glancing at the clock every so often. 3:56 pm. He let out another sigh. Today was the day that he had his first interview with a representative from child services. Before he could begin the adoption process he had to prove that he was a suitable parent or as Danny put it, not a "crazy psycho".

Don smiled when he remembered his friends' reaction to the news.

"_Are you serious?" Danny asked in disbelief._

"_Yeah man, I am." he told him as they stood in the break room of the lab._

"_I'm so happy for you" Lindsay told him, giving him a hug. _

"_Who are you happy for?" Hawkes asked, as he walked into the room._

"_Flack's going to adopt Vanessa." Lindsay told him._

_Hawkes looked towards Don with a surprised, yet pleasant look on his face._

"_Congrats man." he told him, giving him a pat in the back._

"_Thanks." he told Hawkes before looking over at Danny who was still shocked. "You alright Danno?"_

"_Yeah, I'm fine. Just let me know when your ready to buy your minivan Dad." Danny told him with a smile, causing the whole room to laugh._

The memory caused Don to laugh out loud. Despite his joking, Danny along with the rest of the team had been very supportive of his decision, something that he had hoped for. Even Mac had been happy for him.

"_So I here you're in the process of gaining a little girl." Mac told as the two sat in his office, finishing up a case._

"_Yeah, that's the plan anyway." Flack replied._

"_I'm proud of you Flack, you both are very lucky."_

"_Thanks Mac, it means a lot."_

And it did. Though he and Mac could butt heads sometimes, he highly respected the older man's opinion. He was glad that Mac was supportive of decision.

A knock at the door broke him from his thoughts.

_This is it _he thought as he opened the door.

Standing on the other side, stood a slender African-American woman who was probably in her late twenties. She wore a neat black skirt and a blue blouse. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun.

"Don Flack?" she asked.

"Yes mam, that's me."

"Hi, I'm Lily Barnes, we spoke on the phone earlier." she told him, stretching out her arm.

Don shook the woman's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Uh, do you mind if I come in?"

Don silently cursed himself for making her stand outside of his apartment so long. "Oh, sorry. Sure come on in." he said as he opened the door wide enough to let her in.

Ms. Barnes walked in the apartment, glancing around the foyer.

"You have a very nice apartment Mr. Flack."

"Please, call me Don." he told her, while leading her over to the couch.

"Will do." she told him as she took a seat on the couch. Don sat across from her in a chair that was also in his living room.

"So Don, tell me. How exactly did you meet Vanessa?"

Don began to tell the story of Vanessa's case to the woman. After he finished, Ms. Barnes was in awe.

"Wow, that's what I call fate." she said with a smile before continuing. "So, have you always been interested in adopting?"

"To be honest, no. Before I met Vanessa, I hadn't planned on having kids anytime soon, you know. But after we met, I knew I couldn't let her go back to living down at St. Johns."

Ms. Barnes nodded in understanding. "So Don, as a detective, would you say that you work somewhat unsteady hours?"

This was the question that Don had been dreading. He knew for a fact that his job would be a problem. Even with a regular day shift, he often found himself working from early in the morning to late at night. Some days, he was barely at home for two hours before he would go back out again.

"At times the hours can be unbalanced," he started. "But if I was able to adopt Vanessa, that would definitely change. I have already talked to my supervisor and he is willing to allow me to work more flexible hours."

"I see," she said writing down notes on her memo pad. "But in the case of a late shift, where would Vanessa stay?"

Despite his insecurities, Don held is own against Ms. Barnes's tough questions.

"Well, both of my parents are retired and eager to help whenever necessary. They don't live far from here at all so they are always available to help out."

Don let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Ms. Barnes was satisfied with his answer. He knew that the interview would be easier now that that part was over.

________________________________________________________________________

Angell sat at her desk trying to focus on her paperwork, but was very unsuccessful. She was anxious to see how the interview with the social serviced woman went. She glanced down at her watch to see that it was 5:19 pm.

_He should be done by now_ she thought as she began to tap her pen on her desk.

Just then her cell phone rang. Angell picked it before it could ring a second time.

"Don?"

Don laughed in the phone at her hurried greeting. "Some one's impatient."

Ignoring his teasing, she continued. "So, how'd it go?"

"I think it went pretty good. She seemed impressed with what I had to say." he told her. He could almost hear her smiling in the phone.

"Well, you are pretty impressive."

"I know," he joked,

Angell let a small chuckle. "So, are you headed to see Vanessa?"

"Yeah, I'm just about there." he replied. Ever since telling he made the decision to adopt her, Don has gone to visit Vanessa almost everyday.

"Alright. So I guess I'll talk to you later." she said.

"Of course you will." Don said before hanging up.

Right when the conversation ended, Don pulled into the parking lot of the orphanage. Once he walked in he was able to sign in quickly, mostly because his visits had become apart of his new routine.

"She's outside." one of the nuns told him, instantly recognizing his face.

Don thanked her and made his way outside. He immediately spotted Vanessa who was busy chasing a boy around the backyard. Not wanting to interrupt, Don took a seat on the back steps. Apparently, the boy took her soccer ball, but wasn't able to get very far because Vanessa caught up to him in a matter of seconds.

_That's my girl _Don thought to himself as he watched his daughter demand her ball back.

Daughter. The word alone made Don smile. Never in a million years did he think that he would have a daughter at this point in his life. The idea amazed him. This would be his daughter. His child. He would be her father, her dad. The thought made him smile even more.

"What's got you so giddy?"

Don looked up to Vanessa standing in front of him on the steps.

"Hey, there squirt." he told her, accepting the hug she offered.

Vanessa took a seat next to him on the steps. "Squirt?"

"Well, your short." he joked, rubbing a hand over her head.

"I'll grow." she told him before continuing. "So how'd the whole interview thingy go?"

"Pretty good, I think. Hopefully I'll be approved in the next week or so and then you might be able to come home with me."

Vanessa nodded. "Look, I never got a chance to thank you for doing this."

Don looked directly into the girl's bright green eyes. "You don't have to thank me Vanessa. I should be thanking you, okay."

"Well, if that's the case, can I get an allowance?" she asked, causing Don to laugh out loud.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N – **Sorry for taking so long to update. Blame it on me being a senior in high school. Anywho, I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story. Winter break is starting so I will try to update as much as possible. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY, but I'm planning a really complicated plan to steal it!! (Just a joke!)

________________________________________________________________________

**Two months later----**

Donald Flack was currently enjoying the favorite part of his morning. It was the part when you woke up, thinking it was time to get up, but then after glancing at the clock; you realize that you still had a whole hour left. He loved that feeling. When he looked at the clock earlier, it had read 5:30 am. He knew he didn't have to be up until 7:00 am at the latest, which left him with even more that an hour.

The only downside to this part of the morning was that the time you had left passed by to quick to really even enjoy it.

As Don lay in the bed, something started to shake him.

"Dad..." a voice said.

All he could do was mumble an incoherent reply.

"Dad, its time to get up. I have to go to school, remember?" the voice said again.

Don eyes slowly opened to see no other that Vanessa Flack standing over him, gently shaking his shoulder.

"What time is it?" he asked sleepily.

"7:45."

Don bolted up when he heard what time it was. Vanessa's school started at 8:30 and depending on traffic it could take ten to fifteen minutes to get there.

"Alright, you have to hurry okay. Take a quick shower, get dressed, and grab a quick bowl of cereal alright." he told her.

"Done, done, and done." she stated simply.

That's when Don had finally taken in her appearance. She was dressed in dark blue jeans, and a long sleeve gray shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail that hung down her back.

"Wow, I'm impressed. O.k., well you go hang out in the living room while I get ready." he told her as he got out of bed.

Ten minutes later, Don walked into the kitchen dressed in his usual suit and tie. He glanced at the clock and decided that he would have to get something to eat before he went to work.

"Vanessa, did you brush your teeth?' he asked from the kitchen.

Vanessa looked over at him from the couch in the living room. "Yup."

Don eyed her suspiciously. "Are you sure about that, because you know if you're lying, I can take your toothbrush to the lab and Mac or Stella can see if you brushed your teeth in the last 24 hours."

Vanessa bit her bottom lip for a moment. "Be right back," she yelled before darting off toward the hall bathroom, causing Don to chuckle.

Five minutes later, Vanessa came back and got her book bag ready for school. As they neared the door, Don noticed that she wasn't wearing a coat.

"Ness, go grab that light green jacket of yours cause it's supposed to be a little chilly today."

"Aww, Dad, I won't get cold, I'll be…." she started but after noticing the look Don was giving her, she stopped. "Grabbing jacket."

After putting it on, the two made their way out of the apartment and into the early October air.

Luckily, they managed to get to Vanessa's school at 8:25 on the dot.

"Alright, remember. I'm going to try to get off early and come pick you up. Wait for me on the steps of the building. If I can't pick you up, then Grandpa will. Don't leave…"

"With any strangers and or someone I don't know." Vanessa finished.

"That's my girl." he said with a smile.

Don leaned over a placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead. "Alright, go learn something new. Love ya squirt."

"Love you too Dad." she said before getting out of the car.

Don waited until she was safely inside of the building before he drove off towards the station.

The past two months had been going really well for Don. He had managed to officially adopt Vanessa about two weeks after the interview with social services. The process had gone a lot faster for Don because as a detective, he already had a completed background check and fingerprints on file.

Vanessa moved into his apartment and occupied the spare room. The two spent a whole Saturday decorating her room. They painted the room in her favorite color, lime green, not regular green, but lime green, as she often pointed out to him. They put up posters of people he had never heard of before.

"_Who's this?" he asked, eyeing the poster of a young looking guy._

"_Uh, that's Zac Efron." she told him as she hung up a poster of Mia Hamm._

"_Do you really need pictures of boys in your room? Why can't you just get a poster of Hannah Banana or whatever her name is?"_

Don laughed at the memory. He was grateful that Vanessa seemed to adjust quickly. He even remembered the first time she called him Dad.

_Don sat the computer, working in some unfinished reports._

"_Hey, Dad, what's for dinner?" Vanessa asked, walking up behind him._

_His head spun around when he heard her address him as Dad._

"_Oh, sorry, I mean Flack." she apologized, noticing his reaction._

"_No sweetie, you can call me Dad. It's just weird hearing it for the first time, you know."_

_Vanessa nodded in agreement. "It's weird saying it for the first time too."_

Once again, her innocence made Don smile. Having her in his home felt so natural and he loved every moment of it.

________________________________________________________________________

Don walked in the station about fifteen minutes later. He was able to grab a quick donut and cup of coffee on his way.

"Gee, Flack, you couldn't get me one too." Angell asked jokingly, walking up to him.

"Hey you." he told her.

"Hey you back," she replied sweetly.

Ever since their kiss, Don considered Angell to be his girlfriend, even though they had yet to go on an actual date. Between work and Vanessa, he had never really had the time. As he looked at her, it took everything in him not to kiss her right then. They had yet to make their "relationship" public so that meant no PDA in the workplace.

"So, you want to ..." he started but was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone.

He placed his food down on his desk before answering. "Flack"

After listening to the voice on the other end, he hung up the phone.

"We got a missing child report down in Queens." he told her.

"Let's go."

________________________________________________________________________

Flack and Angell arrived on the scene in about ten minutes. The apparent abduction had taken place at a local convenient store. The first officer on the scene began to tell them the details.

Apparently a young couple was picking up a few things with their three year old daughter. They claimed that they had only taken their eyes of her for a minute to pay the cashier but when they turned back around, she was gone.

"I'll go see if there are any witnesses." Angell announced before walking away.

Don began to make his way into the store when Stella came out if it with a worried and stressed look on her face.

"What is it Stell?" Don asked with a worried look on his face.

"Um, there's something I should warn you about" she told him.

"What?"

"The missing girl's name is Madison Murray. Her parents are Christopher and Katherine Murray." she told him.

Don raised his eyebrows in confusion. "I don't get it."

Stella sighed before handing him a recent picture of the missing girl.

Don took it and the moment he looked at the face on the picture, he felt like he had been punched in the stomach. His eyes focused on the familiar green eyes in the picture.

"She looks exactly like…"

"Vanessa." Stella finished.

Don's eyes quickly darted up and scanned the parking lot until they feel on the missing girl's parents. When he saw them, his heart sank.

The man was a tall African-American man who face looked exactly like Vanessa's. Everything from the nose to the mouth resembled his daughters'. When he glanced at the woman, his disposition became worse. She was a Caucasian woman with bright green eyes that were noticeable, even from a distance.

He glanced back down at the picture in is hand and he knew it was true. The missing girl was Vanessa's sister and the couple was Vanessa's biological parents.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N – **Alright so I first want to apologize to anyone who realized that chap. 11 was messed up for some reason. I had to repost it and chap 12 too so ignore the e-mail about a new chap. 12. And once again thanks for the reviews. This chapter is kind of longer than usual but I just couldn't stop. LOL. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **Yes, I own CSI NY…………okay, okay I don't, can't a girl just pretend?

________________________________________________________________________

Everything else going around Don became oblivious as he began to realize what was going on. He was looking Vanessa's birth parents, the people who's DNA she shared. Sure, he was her Dad, but the man standing a few feet away was her father. It made him feel inadequate, like he had just lost the role of Vanessa's father mainly because of the strong resemblance the two shared. To be honest, he had figured that her birth parents had passed away or in jail or something, but looking at the couple, he realized he was wrong. They were a normal looking couple, maybe in their mid to late twenties.

"Don,"

He looked over at Angell who, judging by her face had also begun to understand what was going on.

"Are you alright" she asked, her voice full of concern.

Don looked at Angell before answering. Despite what was going on, he knew he had a job to do. The life of a little girl was at stake and he knew it was his job to help get her back.

"I'm fine."

Angell could tell that he wasn't fine, but she knew that he wouldn't let that get in the way of doing his job. "Look, Don, I was going to go over there and talk to them, maybe you should just…"

"I'll be fine Jess," he said, a little more harshly than he intended.

Angell nodded, a little taken back by his harshness.

The two detectives made their way over to the parents of the missing child. They stood together, not far from the entrance of the store. Mr. Murray had a protective arm around his wife, who was lightly sobbing.

"Mr. and Mrs. Murray, I'm Detective Angell, and this is Detective Flack. We're here to try to help get your daughter back. Can you tell us everything that happened?"

Mr. Murray spoke up first. "We were just in the store for five minutes. Katie and I were paying the cashier and Madison was standing right behind us. When we were finished we turned around and she was gone. We looked for her in the store and the parking lot but we couldn't find her. That's when we called 911."

"Did you see anyone suspicious in the store when walked in?" Angell asked.

"No, not anyone." he told her.

For the first time, Don spoke up. "Do you have any other children?"

"No, just little Maddie." Mr. Murray answered.

Don couldn't believe how simply he answered the question. Neither one of them seem to have thoughts of the daughter they abandoned eleven years ago. He had hoped that their face would register with a bit of sadness or something to show that they never forgot about Vanessa, but there was nothing of the sorts. Somehow, this angered Don.

Angell knew this and decided to intervene before Don said something he would later regret.

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Murray." she told them.

"Just get my baby back," Mrs. Murray spoke for the first time.

"We will" Angell told her before the two detectives walked away.

________________________________________________________________________

About an hour later, they had found lead in the case. Many witnesses reported seeing an old brown car Toyota leaving the scene. Lindsay, who was also on the case, had been able to find a tire tread in the parking lot, and was in the process of analyzing it.

Don was still having a hard time dealing with meeting Vanessa's birth parents. Though, they didn't have DNA evidence, he knew it was them. He knew because every time he looked at Mr. Murray, he saw Vanessa's face. He didn't know how he felt or how he was supposed to feel. He was angry at the way they seem to completely forget about Vanessa but at the same time he felt sorry for them because they gave up the greatest thing he had ever known.

Sighing, Don made his way around the crime lab, looking for Lindsay, hoping that she had got a hit off of the tire tread.

"Don," a voice called out to him.

Don turned around to see Angell walking toward him. He immediately remembered how harsh he had been with her earlier and he felt extremely guilty about it.

"Look Jess, I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have snapped like that."

Angell nodded. "I understand Don, I'm not mad or anything." she told him. "Are you sure you can handle this case. I don't mind if you don't"

"I'll be okay. Right now the focus is on finding Madison Murray. We'll deal with everything else later."

Just then, Lindsay came around the corner.

"Alright, the tire tread in the parking lot came back to be a 1986 Toyota Corolla, which confirms the witnesses' accounts about a brown Toyota leaving the scene." she told the detectives.

"So, all we need to do is match the tire treads to the actual car." Don said.

"Hawkes is checking to see if there are any registered vehicles like that in the system." Lindsay announced.

"And it turns out there are." Hawkes said as he came down the hall and joined the trio.

"You got a name?" Don asked.

"Yup. Elmer Greenfield. He was a retired veteran who lived not to far from the convenient store where Madison Murray went missing."

"Was?" Angell questioned.

"Yeah, Elmer Greenfield died two years ago." he continued.

"Great, so are only suspect is a dead guy." Don said sarcastically.

"Not quite. All of Mr. Greenfield's possessions went his wife, 85 year old Eloise Greenfield, who stills lives in their same home."

"So, you think she would kidnap Madison." Lindsay asked.

"I don't know. I mean she is 85. Maybe her car was stolen and she just never reported it." Angell stated.

"Only one way to find out. We have to pay a visit to Mrs. Greenfield." Don said.

Before anyone could reply, Don's cell phone rang.

"Excuse me," he said before answering. "Flack,"

"Hey Donnie, its me." the voice on the other end spoke.

"Hey Dad, what's up." he said, instantly recognizing the voice of Donald Flack Sr.

"I'm really sorry but the car broke down earlier so I won't be able to get Vanessa from school." he told his son.

Don glanced at his watch seeing it was 2:30. "That's okay Dad, I can get her. You just take care of that car. I told you to have the engine checked months ago."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get it fixed. Before you know it, you'll be using it to teach Vanessa how to drive." he said with a chuckle.

"Please, don't talk about that yet. I get scared thinking about Vanessa as a teenager." he replied.

Don said goodbye to his father before hanging up.

"Look, you guys go ahead with out me." he announced making his way back over the group.

"Everything alright." Lindsay asked.

"Yeah, I just have to get Ness from school." he said.

"Look Don, if you want to go to the Greenfield's' you can go ahead, and I'll get Vanessa." Angell offered.

"Really?" Don questioned.

"Yeah, it's fine. I haven't had a break all day. Plus I haven't seen Vanessa in a while." she assured him.

"Well, if you sure." he said.

"Just go" she told him with a smile.

Don thanked her before he and Hawkes headed out to the Greenfield's'. After Don and Hawkes left, Angell noticed Lindsay smirking at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all."

________________________________________________________________________

As Don and Hawkes pulled up to the home Eloise Greenfield, they both instantly noticed the brown Toyota Corolla on the driveway.

"So either someone stole the car, kidnapped Madison, and then returned it." Hawkes started.

"Or Eloise Greenfield just became our number one suspect." Don finished.

The two men walked up to the door. About a minute after Hawkes knocked on the door, an elderly woman came to open it. She had short gray hair and her face was full of wrinkles. She was short, especially standing next to Don's tall frame.

"Mrs. Greenfield?" Don asked.

"Yes that's me, what can I do for you two fine gentlemen?" she asked nicely.

"HI, I'm Detective Don Flack and this is Dr, Sheldon Hawkes. We're here because of a recent child abduction that took place this morning at a convenient store that we have reason to believe you visited earlier today."

"Oh, yes I was there. I was doing some shopping with my three year old daughter, Anna."

Don and Sheldon shared a look, both thinking the same thing.

"Mrs. Greenfield, can meet Anna?' Don asked.

________________________________________________________________________

Don and Hawkes returned to the station with three year old Madison Murray in tow. They had called Mr. and Mrs. Murray to notify them that they had safely found their daughter. It turns out that Mrs. Greenfield suffered from a bad case of Alzheimer's. When she was in the convenient store, she saw Madison and thought that it was her own daughter. Somehow she was able to get the little girl to her car before her parents noticed.

Don told the Murray's this over the phone, on his way to the station with Madison. They decided not to press charges as the old woman was already in the process to move into a nursing home, due to the decision made by her daughter Anna, who was actually in her forties.

When Don led little Madison over to her parents, the both ran to her with open arms. It was a sweet reunion, but Don still had his previous thoughts in the back of his mind. The couple was so in love with their daughter, but what about Vanessa.

Don's thoughts were pushed aside when Mrs. Murray spoke to him.

"Thank you so much for finding our daughter," she spoke, with tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.

"No problem. I was just doing my job." he told them.

"Well, thank you anyway." Mr. Murray told him.

As the Murray's continued their reunion, Don made his way over to his desk and watched from the distance. He just couldn't understand how they could give one daughter so much love but leave nothing for the other one. Despite the anger he had for the couple. He also was somewhat grateful for their decision because it allowed him to raise Vanessa as his own.

As Don continued to watch the family, a voice broke his thoughts.

"Dad."

He looked over to see Vanessa walking towards him. Don got up to meet her halfway. When he reached her, he scooped her up in his arms, lifting her high off the ground.

"Hey squirt. How was your ride with Jess." he asked, throwing a smile to Angell, who stood beside him.

"It was good. We got to talk about ….." she started but trailed off when something caught her eye.

Don followed her line of vision. He felt his heart break when he realized that the Murray's were still there and Vanessa was staring right at them.

He looked over and saw that Mr. and Mrs. Murray were staring right back at her.

"That's her." was all Mrs. Murray said.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N – **Okay, I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying the plot. Thanks for the reviews. There so cool! Okay, I won't take up anymore of your time. HAPPY READING!!!

**Disclaimer – **Disclaimer, what disclaimer? I own them all!!!!! Okay, okay it was just another one of my sad attempts at a joke.

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"_That's her." was all Mrs. Murray said._

Mrs. Murray slowly made her way closer to where Don was standing, still holding Vanessa. He could feel Vanessa's grip tighten on his shoulder as the woman got closer. Before Mrs. Murray could reach them, Angell intervened.

"Hey Vanessa, why don't we get started on your homework over at my desk?" she said quietly.

Vanessa's gaze shifted to Don. He could see that she was both scared and confused.

"It's okay squirt. You go ahead with Jess. I'll be ready to go in a minute." he told her, slowly putting her down.

Angell took Vanessa's hand and led her over to her desk.

Don turned back to the Murrays who still stood in shock. "Why don't we talk in private for a minute." he told them, leading them to one of the conferences rooms in the station.

Don offered them a seat but both remained standing, Mrs. Murray with a sleeping Madison in her arms.

All of the occupants of the room were silent, no one knowing what to say. Finally Mrs. Murray spoke up.

"Is that my daughter?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"No, she's my daughter." Don told her.

"Wait, so you adopted her?" Mr. Murray asked.

Don nodded.

"Well, then technically she's my daughter." The younger man replied.

"No, she's not your daughter. If you were her father then you wouldn't have just abandoned her like that."

"Look, you don't know what the hell you're talking about." Mr. Murray replied, slightly raising his voice.

"Chris, let's just go..." Mrs. Murray tried to tell her husband.

"No Katie, I'm not just gonna go. I'm not gonna let this guy pass judgment on me like he knows everything. I did what I had to do, okay. Just because she has your last name, that doesn't make her your daughter." he yelled at Don.

"And just because she had your DNA, that doesn't make you her father." Don yelled back.

The yelling in the room caused little Madison to begin to cry.

"Great, see what you did." Mr. Murray complained.

"Chris, let's just take Maddie home, okay. We'll deal with this tomorrow." Mrs. Murray pleaded.

Mr. Murray sighed, before giving in to his wife's requests. "Okay, we'll go." he told his wife before turning to Don. "I'll see you tomorrow." he said smugly before leading his wife out of the room.

Don let out a loud sigh as he ran a hand over his face in frustration. Just when things had been going great with Vanessa, this happened. He never pictured having to deal with her birth parents this soon.

"You okay,"

Don turned to see Angell move into the room, closing the door behind her.

"I don't know Jess, I wasn't ready for this." he confessed.

Angell nodded in understanding. She moved closer to Don and placed her arms around his neck. "It'll be okay,' she told him.

Don placed his arms around her slender waist. "I hope so. I can't lose her Jess."

"You won't. They gave up their parental rights the moment they signed the papers to have her put up for adoption."

"I know, but what if they try to gain some type of visitation rights. Then Vanessa will get to know her real father and I'll just be some guy that…" Don started before he was interrupted.

"You are her real father, Don." she told him. "Nothing will change that, okay. That girl is crazy about you and you know it. She won't look at you any less. Having the same DNA doesn't make you someone's father. Showing that you love them does. Don, you love her so much and it really shows. I don't think anyone could love her more than you do and she knows that."

Don let Angell's work soak in. He did love Vanessa more than anything and he knew nothing was going to change that.

He looked down at the woman in his arms.

"Thank you." he told her softly.

"No problem. I didn't tell you anything you already didn't know."

"No, I mean thanks for being a part of this whole thing. It means a lot Jess."

"There isn't any thing I'd rather do." she told him.

Don bent down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. After pulling back, he spoke softly to her. "We should probably get back to Vanessa."

Angell nodded as she slowly removed her arms from Don's neck.

The two detectives walked out of the conference room and slowly made there way back to Vanessa, who sat at Angell's desk.

"You ready to go squirt?" Don asked.

"Yup"

________________________________________________________________________

The back to their apartment was a silent one, both Don and Vanessa deep in thought. When they got inside, Don went to his room to change out of his suit while Vanessa went to her room to finish her homework.

After he was done changing, Don, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, made his way into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

Taking a seat on the couch, Don's thoughts went back to the day events. He still didn't know what to think about everything. It all happened so fast. His main concern at this point was Vanessa. He wondered if she knew that those were her parents. He didn't see how she couldn't. The resemblance was uncanny.

"Dad," came Vanessa's voice, breaking Don from his thoughts.

"Hey squirt, you finish your homework?" he asked, patting the cushion next to him for her to sit down.

"Yeah," she answered as she crawled up of the couch next to him.

Don placed a comforting arm around her before speaking.

"So, how much do you know?"

"That those people were my birth parents." she stated.

Don was about to reply when Vanessa stopped him.

"You don't have anything to worry about."

Don raised his eyebrows at her. "What do you mean?"

"You're still gonna be my Dad. That won't change. Just cause that other guy looks like me, that doesn't mean anything."

Don let out a chuckle at the young girl's perceptiveness. "How did you know that was what I was worried about?"

Vanessa shrugged. "Because that's the same thing I thought."

This made Don even more confused. "Why?"

"Because, I thought that if you knew my real parents were alive, you might feel like you don't have to be my Dad anymore, you know. Like you would just send me to live with them instead."

Hearing this broke Don's heart. "Sweetheart, you know that I don't feel like that. That would never happen okay. You're my daughter, okay, and you always will be."

"I know that now. When you guys were talking, Jess said the exact same thing."

"She did?" Don asked her.

"Yup. She's really smart you know." Vanessa told him.

Don smiled at his daughter. "She sure is."

_And that's why I love her _he thought to himself.

**A/N – **I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa or just Happy Hoilidays.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N – **Okay everyone, I'm back. I hope you all had wonderful holidays. As much as I enjoyed mine, I missed my little Flack and Vanessa. Anywho, here's chapter 15. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **Okay, okay. I know this is the part where I write some lame joke about why I don't own CSI NY but I haven't thought of a good one so could you just chuckle anyway………..thanks.

________________________________________________________________________

Don made his way into the station the next morning after dropping Vanessa off at school. He hadn't gotten much sleep that night because his mind continuously wandered to thoughts of Vanessa's parents.

After meeting Vanessa's parents, he didn't know exactly how to respond. He didn't know if he should allow them to meet Vanessa, or completely cut them off. Though the idea of removing them from the picture was appealing, Don knew he couldn't do that. He knew it wasn't fair to the Murrays. Sure they had given Vanessa up, but they were only fifteen at the time. They probably thought that they were doing the right thing, and Don could respect that. He was pretty confident that Mr. Murray would make an appearance at some point during his day, and Don decided that he would talk with the man and tell him what he felt.

What he didn't realize was that Mr. Murray was already at the station. The man was sitting in the chair next to his desk. When he saw Don, he slowly stood up.

"Look, before you say anything, I just want to apologize for yesterday, I was completely out of line." Don told him when he reached him.

A small smile spread across the man's face. "Don't worry about it. To be honest, I would have reacted the same way if I were you." the younger man confessed.

Don motioned for the man to sit back down before he took his seat behind his desk.

"Can offer you a cup of coffee or anything?"

"No, thanks. I just wanted to talk for a minute." he started. He looked down at his hands before continuing. "When Katie got pregnant, we were only fifteen. Way too young to be having kids. At the time, we were both in school, and didn't have the kind of money it takes to raise a kid. Our parents didn't have it either, but even if they did, it wouldn't matter cause they were furious. My parents kept telling me that I was stupid for getting some white girl pregnant. Katie's parents felt the same way about me being black, you know."

Don nodded in understanding. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay. Katie's parents wanted her to get an abortion but she just couldn't. So we did the only thing that we could think of at the time. I barely got to spend five minutes with her before they took her away." he continued. "I have to say Detective; I've regretted giving Vanessa up everyday of my life."

Don looked at the younger man and saw that his eyes were becoming glassy. He sympathized with Mr. Murray, knowing that it must have been hard, giving up his daughter.

"Look, I don't want you to worry about us trying to gain any type of custody or anything. We knew when we gave her up that ever getting her back wouldn't be a possibility. I can tell that you love her and I respect you for doing what you have for her."

Don let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mr. Murray"

"Chris." he told Don.

Don gave him a small smile.

The two men slowly rose from their seats and shook hands.

"Do me one favor Detective." Chris said before he walked away.

"Call me Don."

Chris nodded. "Just tell her we're sorry and that we will always love her."

"Of course. Look, if you want to tell her in person…" Don started but was cut off.

"No, that's okay. We don't want to make this any harder. Just take care of her Don."

"I will."

________________________________________________________________________

"And then Ms. Hunt called his parents."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he had it coming. Kids these days."

Don laughed at his daughter. She had told him this long story of how some boy in her 6th grade class got in trouble for letting the class frog loose into the hallway.

Once again, Don found himself in enjoying his current lifestyle. It had been two weeks since meeting Vanessa's birth parents and everything had seemed to be going back to normal. Vanessa understood everything when it came to her birth parents. She was thankful that she got to see them but was content with their decision to remain separate from her. She told Don that she would write them every once in a while to let them know that she was oaky and everything.

Vanessa and Don sat at their kitchen table eating breakfast that Saturday morning. When Vanessa was done, she took her bowl and placed it in the dishwasher before sitting back down.

"So, what's the plan for today?" she asked.

"I don't know, what do want to do?"

Vanessa was about to respond when she was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Don got up and went to answer it with Vanessa right behind him. He swung the door open and saw Jess standing on the other side.

"Hey" he told her.

"Hey yourself." she replied.

Don leaned in to kiss her but didn't make it because Vanessa squeezed her way in between them.

"Hey Jess," she greeted.

"Hey, Nessa. What have you been up to?"

"Nothing much."

"Hey squirt, why don't you go hop in the shower and get dressed." Don told her, hoping to have a minute alone with his girlfriend.

"Okay," she said as she headed towards the hall. She stopped and turned back around for a moment. "And Dad, if you wanted to be alone with Jess, you could have just said so." she said with a smile before heading towards the bathroom.

Don chuckled as he turned back to Jess. He moved aside, allowing her to enter the apartment. He closed the door behind her before moving to kiss her softly on the lips.

After pulling back, Jess looked up at his tall frame. "Why thank you detective." she said as a large smile formed on her face.

"You're welcome."

The two made their way into the kitchen so Don could finish clearing the table of their breakfast dishes. As he was loading the dishwasher, Jess came to stand beside him.

"So, did you have any plans for today?" she asked.

"Well first, I was going to finish loading my dishwasher. Next I was going to slowly move closer to this beautiful woman in my kitchen and kiss her." he began.

"Really, please go on." Jess said, sounding really interested.

"Well then I was going to ask this invite this beautiful woman to go out to dinner with me, something we really don't get to do often because we're always out saving to world." he joked.

"Well, for one thing this woman is really lucky to have a guy like you. And if I was her, I would agree to going out to dinner with you."

Don smiled before going over and kissing another kiss on her lips, this time a bit more intense. Their kiss continued until they were interrupted when the cell phone sitting on the counter began to ring.

Jess quickly recovered from her moment with Don before answering.

"Angell."

"Angell?" the voice on the other end answered.

"Yes, Messer?" she asked, hearing the deep New York accent.

"Um… why are you answering Flack's phone?" he asked.

Jess's eyes got wide when she realized that she had mistaken Don's phone for her own. "Um…hold on for a minute." she stuttered before handing the phone to Don, who was very amused by the whole situation.

"Hey Danno, what's up." he spoke into the receiver.

"Is Angell at your apartment?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll tell you about it later. Anyway, what do you got?"

Don finished his conversation with Danny before hanging up. He looked over at Jess who was sitting at the kitchen table. She still seemed flustered at the phone mix up.

"So, Danny just told me that he's got a new lead in the case we've been working."

"The one up at that hotel on 5th avenue?"

"Yeah, we have to go and question this guy so I might have to cancel our date." he said, the disappointed evident in his voice.

"It's okay. You just go and stop the bad guy."

Don smiled. He loved how Jess was never upset when he had to go in at the most inconvenient times. That was the plus side to dating someone in the department.

"What about Vanessa." Jess questioned.

"I'll just have to swing by my parents' house on the way to the station."

"You know Don, I could keep her." Jess informed him.

"Are you sure?" Don asked.

Jess shook her head in disbelief. "Of course it's fine. You know I love hanging out with her. She's a great kid."

"Of course I am." Vanessa noted as she skipped into the kitchen. She had finished getting ready and was dressed in jeans and a green hoodie.

"Hey squirt, I gotta run to work for a little while but Jess said you can hang out with her." Don told her.

"That's cool." Vanessa told him.

It took Don about ten minutes to get ready for work. When he came out of his bedroom, he went into the living room to find Vanessa and Jess sitting on the couch watching T.V.

"I will see you two ladies later." he told them. He placed a kiss on Vanessa's forehead, and one on Jess's lips.

"Bye Dad." Vanessa called out.

"Yeah, bye Dad." Jess called out with a smile.

Don just shook his head as he made his way out the door. On his way down to his car, he smiled at how traditional that moment had seemed. It was like kissing his daughter and wife before he headed out to his office, only Jess wasn't his wife.

_Maybe one day. _He thought.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N – **Like always, thanks for the reviews. I can't believe there are more than 100. You guys are the best. Here's chapter 16. HAPPY READING!!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY. Who knew?

________________________________________________________________________

Don walked into the precinct to find Danny sitting at his desk, with his arms crossed over his chest. The moment he saw Don, he stood up and walked over to the detective.

"So, spill crime stopper. What's Angell doin' at your place on what was supposed to be your day off?"

Don just shrugged as he walked past Danny over to his desk. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Growing frustrated, Danny followed Don and sat on the corner of his desk. "Oh come on Flack, stop acting like you don't know what I'm talking about. Are you and Angell, together?"

Don smiled at Danny, amused at his frustration. "Yeah, we've been seeing each other for a while."

Danny shook his head in disbelief. "How long?"

"Almost three months."

Danny mouth dropped open in shock. "Three month!" he exclaimed rather loudly, grabbing the attention of some of the other officers in the station.

His outburst also grabbed the attention of Lindsay who had just entered the room.

"Three months what?" she asked, standing in front of Don's desk.

"Angell and Flack have been together for the past three months." he told her.

"Well, that's nice." she said, somewhat nonchalantly.

"Why aren't you as surprised as I am?" he asked, disappointed at her lack of reaction.

"Come on Danny. A blind man could tell that they were together." she said smiling.

Danny looked over at Don who was laughing at the whole situation. He turned back to Lindsay. "Who else knows?"

"Mac, Stella, Hawkes, Adam, even Sid."

Danny threw his arms in frustration. "I'm always the last to know everything."

________________________________________________________________________

"That was great." Vanessa exclaimed as she and Jess walked out of the movie theater. The two had just gone to see the latest High School Musical movie. Vanessa had really enjoyed it while Jess had to admit the songs were somewhat catchy.

After leaving the theater, Jess took Vanessa to a local restaurant where they sat in a booth and ate cheeseburgers and fries.

"So, how's school going?" Jess asked.

"Pretty good. I'm just looking forward to next year."

"Why's that?" Jess inquired.

"Elementary schools don't have soccer teams. Middle schools do." she explained.

Jess nodded in understanding. Then she noticed something. "Hey Ness, how come you don't carry your soccer ball around anymore."

"I don't know. Ever since I left the orphanage, I just don't anymore. It's kinda weird." she said before taking another bite out of her cheeseburger."

Jess nodded. She figured it was because after being adopted, the young girl had felt safer, especially when she was with Don.

"Hey Jess, can I ask you a question?" Vanessa asked.

"Sure."

"Do you love my Dad?"

The question took Jess by surprised. She was expecting for her to ask about ice cream or something.

"Um, well, why do you ask that?"

Vanessa smiled at Jess. "Because I think he is in love with you."

Once again, Jess was surprised at Vanessa's comment. "Really?"

"Really. Every time I say your name or something, he grins and gets this funny look in his eyes."

That made Jess smile. She was familiar with that look. He came over his face every time they would kiss or when she walked into the room.

"And, every time I mention his name you get that look in your eyes." Vanessa pointed out, looking at Jess with a knowing smirk.

Jess put her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her fists. "You know Vanessa, you would make a great detective one day."

Vanessa grinned. "Thanks, but you still didn't answer my question."

Jess went silent and sipped a bit of her soda, unable to keep the grin from forming on her face.

"You so love him."

_______________________________________________________________________

Don finally got home that evening around 5:00. He walked into his apartment to be greeted by the silence. He walked in to the living room to see Jess asleep on the sofa and Vanessa sprawled out on the floor. The scene made his laugh out loud.

Hearing the noise, Jess bolted awake, sitting up on the sofa.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Don whispered, taking a seat next to her on the sofa. He leaned over a place a soft kiss on her lips. Even after he pulled back, Jess lips still tingled with the feeling of his lips on hers.

"I take it you too had an exciting day." he said, motioning to the sound asleep Vanessa, with his head.

"Well, between the movie, cheeseburgers, and soda drinking, a girl's gotta sleep."

Don laughed lightly, trying not to wake Vanessa. Don stood up from the sofa and moved over to where she was asleep on the floor.

Don gently picked the girl up and carried her to room. When he got inside, he gently put Vanessa on her bed.

She stirred a little between opening her eyes slightly. She looked up at Don with sleepy green eyes. "Hey Dad," she said, the sleep still evident in her voice.

"Hey kiddo, you just get some sleep okay." Don said softly.

"Okay. And Dad,"

"Yeah,"

"You should tell Jess that you love her cause she loves you too." she told him.

Don froze mid step at his daughter's statement. He looked down at her and saw that she was just about sleep.

He turned around to leave but stopped at the door. Did Jess really love him? And how did Vanessa know? All of these thoughts went through his head as he left the bedroom, slowly closing the door behind him.

Don walked into the kitchen to see that Jess was standing at the counter, making herself a cup of coffee. He stopped in the doorway and just watched as she moved around his kitchen. He liked the way the jeans she wore hug all of her curves in just the right way. She was so beautiful to him and he couldn't help but smile.

He knew that he was falling in love with her. The revelation both scared him and excited him at the same time. He had always been attracted to her, but over the past few months that attraction increased into something so much more. He knew it also had to do with Vanessa. Jess had been so supportive of him throughout the whole adoption process. Even after it was official, she had always been there to help whenever he needed.

"Whatca you thinking about Don?" she asked noticing the way he was just standing there.

Don looked up at her but didn't say anything.

"Don, are you okay," she said as she walked over to him and waved a hand in his face.

Don looked down at her before taking her by surprise and pulling her into a passionate kiss. His left went to the back of her neck while the other rested on her lower back. Jess eagerly returned the kiss, grabbing at his suit jacket.

Don pulled back for a moment and looked down at Jess to see her staring back at him, her lips pink from there heated kiss.

"I love you." he said softly.

Jess stared in his blue eyes, seeing the truth that was in them. "Really?"

"Of course. Jess, you're the most amazing person I know. You're the most beautiful woman in the world. When we're together nothing else matters and when we're not, you're always on my mind."

As the words came out of his mouth, Jess felt her heart beat faster and faster. "I love you too Don."

That was all Don needed to hear as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. There, in his kitchen, Don just held the woman he loved.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N – **Once again, thanks for the reviews. I really appreciate them. Here's chapter 17. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY, I just pretend I do.

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"Here."

"No thanks."

"Just try it."

"No, I'm okay."

"Fine, what about you?"

"Pass"

Jess let out a defeated sigh, causing Don and Vanessa to chuckle. The trio sat at Don's kitchen table that Sunday evening. Ever since Don and Jess admitted there feelings for each two weeks ago, they had started having dinner together as often as they could. They also took turns picking the menu. Tonight was Jess's turn so she decided to choose something different, but it hadn't gone over very well.

"So no one is going to try it?"

Don and Vanessa looked at each other before looking back at her. "No," they said simultaneously.

"Fine, I give up." she said, throwing her hands up in defeat.

"Don't take it personal babe, I just think the idea of eating raw fish is a stupid one."

"Why, sushi is really good. Have you ever even tried it?"

"Probably not. And to be honest, I don't ever plan to." he told her.

Jess just shook her head at him, before turning to Vanessa.

"Come on Ness, don't be like your father, he's just being a big baby. You might really like it." Jess pleaded.

Vanessa bit her bottom lip, trying to decide on what to do. Sighing, she finally gave in. "Fine, I'll try it. But if it's gross, can we order pizza or something?"

"Deal" Jess told her before handing her a small piece of sushi on a plate.

Vanessa looked down at it as if it was still moving. She slowly picked it up and brought it up to her lips. She looked up at Don who was shaking his head as if to say _don't do it_, a gesture that earned him a smack on the arm from Jess. Vanessa looked back at the sushi before closing her eyes and stuffing the whole thing in her mouth.

Don looked horrified as Vanessa slowly chewed the food in her mouth. After a minute of chewing, she finally swallowed it.

"So, how was it?" Jess asked.

Vanessa shrugged lightly. "Not that bad. It's pretty good actually. You should try it Dad."

Don shook his head in disbelief. He turned to look at Jess who seemed to basking in the glory of her accomplishment. "I can't believe you just turned my own daughter against me."

Jess patted him on the shoulder. "You'll get over it."

"I doubt that. So, why you ladies enjoy you're raw fish, I think I will make myself a delicious ham sandwich." he said, getting up and heading over to the refrigerator.

Right when he opened it, the phone rang. Don closed the door to the fridge and went over to answer it.

"Hello."

"Hi, may I speak to Mr. Don Flack," the female voice spoke on the other end.

"Speaking,"

"Good evening Mr. Flack, this is Ms. Hunt, Vanessa's teacher. Sorry to call you on a Sunday but I wanted to talk to you about Vanessa."

"Sure, is everything okay." he asked concerned, causing Jess to look up at him.

There was a slight hesitation before the woman continued. "Um, actually I was curious to see if we could meet in person sometime tomorrow."

"Yeah. What time?" he asked.

"Well, the kids go to lunch at 12:15 and then recess so how about 12:30?"

Don agreed to meet with Vanessa's teacher at 12:30 the next day. After hanging up the phone, Don sat back down at the table.

"Everything okay?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, everything is good." he told her, but knew that she could tell he was lying.

Jess nodded, but planned to find out what was going on.

After Vanessa went to bed, Jess decided to ask Don what was wrong. As the two sat on the sofa, Don with his arm around her, Jess asked him about his phone conversation.

"It was Ness's teacher." he told her.

"Is everything okay?"

"I don't know. She wants to meet tomorrow. I've got the feeling it isn't going to be great news."

________________________________________________________________________

Don walked into Vanessa's classroom precisely at 12:30 the next day. He had met her teacher before, when Vanessa was first enrolled.

Ms. Hunt was a tall, petite woman with short red hair. She looked to be in her mid thirties. After Don walked in, Ms. Hunt offered him a seat at one of the desks in the front row while she went to go retrieve Vanessa's file.

"So, Mr. Flack, I wanted to talk to you about Vanessa's reading abilities" she told him once she sat down in the seat beside him.

"What about them?"

"Well, as you know, she has been struggling with her reading assignments."

"She has?" Don asked, both confused and surprised.

Ms. Hunt gave him a questioning look. "Yes, I thought you were aware of the situation. I sent a letter home with Vanessa and she gave it back to me with your signature." She looked in the file ad pulled out the letter that she was referring to. Don looked at the signature and immediately knew that it wasn't his.

Sensing what was going on, Ms. Hunt spoke up. "That's not yours is it?"

"No. So what, Vanessa forged it?" he asked, mostly to himself.

"Mr. Flack, I'm sorry but it seems that way. I sent that letter home a couple of weeks ago. I've been sending her books that she was supposed to be going over with you. She's told me that you two practice everyday."

Don sighed and ran a hand over his face. He couldn't believe that Vanessa had been lying to him as long as she has. Don always thought that he had been blessed because she had never been a behavior problem.

"So exactly how bad is her reading?" he asked.

"Mr. Flack, I think your daughter has dyslexia"

"What? I mean, are you sure" Don asked, shocked.

Ms. Hunt nodded. "She seems to have many of the symptoms. But you don't have to worry. Many people live with dyslexia and are able to do just fine. All it takes is hard work and concentration. It would help if you spent thirty to forty-five minutes everyday doing extra reading with her."

Don nodded at the teacher's suggestion. The two finished their discussion and Don made his way back to the precinct. Throughout the entire drive his mind was reeling with everything that had just happened. Vanessa had blatantly lied to him, even forging his signature. Don didn't know how he felt about everything. He was angry, disappointed, and hurt that Vanessa had to keep this a secret from him. This was the part of parenting that he feared. He knew that something had to be done but he had no idea what.

**A/N – **Ohhhh, drama. LOL. Anyway I just wanted to wish everyone a safe and blessed New Year. See ya in 2009. (The year I graduate. YAAAAY!!)


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N – **Like always, thanks for the reviews. They really mean a lot. Unfortunately, winter break is just about over so it might be harder for me to update, but I will try to every couple days. Anyways, here's chapter 18. HAPPY READING!

**Disclaimer – **Do I own CSI NY? No. But hey, I own…well…NOTHING AS COOL AS CSI NY! *goes and cries in the corner*

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Don sat in the driveway of his parents' home after finishing his shift. 11:31 the clock on the dashboard read. Hs sighed and ran a hand over his face, tired from both the long shift and thinking about how to handle Vanessa.

Turning off the car, he opened the door and made his way up to the front door. He used the key he had and opened the front door. His nose was immediately filled with the smell of his mother's homemade apple pie. Don smiled, knowing that Vanessa probably dined on his mother's pie until she was ready to explode. Don's parents had been very excepting of Vanessa. She would be their second grandchild but the only one who lived close by. His brother had a little girl but he lived with his wife up in Vermont. They also expressed how they enjoyed spending time with their little "grandbaby" as his mother called her.

He made his way into the den and saw his mother sitting on the sofa, watching T.V. She looked up at him with a smile. Christine Flack was a short woman, with pure gray hair and wrinkles on her face. Despite the evidence of age, she was still attractive, and one could only imagine how beautiful she was as a young woman.

"Hey Donnie, late shift?" she asked after Don greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and took a seat next to her on the sofa.

"Yeah, criminals don't stop committing crimes for the sake of the detectives" he told her.

"Don't I know it." she joked, having been married to a detective as well. Studying her son's face, she immediately noticed his stressful expression.

"What's wrong Donnie?" she asked, concerned.

"I met with Vanessa's teacher earlier today," he started. "Turns out she's been having problems in school with her reading. Her teacher thinks she may have dyslexia."

"Oh, I'm sorry Donnie, but it won't be that bad. Nowadays, there re all kinds of things to help children with dyslexia."

"I know ma, that's not was bothering me." he told her.

"Then what it is?"

"Vanessa knew about it ma. She knew about it and didn't say anything. Her teacher sent home a letter but instead of giving it to me she signed my name. And now, it's like…I mean I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Christine sighed as she listened to her son. "Listen, Don, I know that this is hard for you but that's because you're still a new parent."

"I know, its just Vanessa has always been a good kid…"

"And she still is." his mother interrupted. "One mistake doesn't make anyone a bad child Donnie. What she did was wrong but she was probably just scared of disappointing you."

Don listened to his mother, knowing she was right, like always. After thanking her for the advice, he made his way upstairs, walking slowly so he wouldn't wake his father and made his way into his sister's old room where Vanessa was stretched out on the bed. He smiled at the way her arms and legs were sprawled out in every direction.

Slowly making his way over to the bed, Don kneeled down and slowly rubbed Vanessa's shoulder.

"Hey squirt, let's go get you coat and stuff so we can go home." he said softly.

Vanessa let out a sleepy groan and rolled over on her side, facing away from Don.

"Like father, like daughter." his mother said from the doorway. Don laughed and picked up Vanessa and accepted her coat and book bag from his mother. He said his goodbyes and put Vanessa in the car and headed home.

The next morning Vanessa sat at that table munching on a bowl of fruit loops. Don had purposefully gotten ready a little bit earlier because he knew that he had to talk to Vanessa before she went to school.

"You're ready quick," Vanessa stated, noticing his change.

"Yeah, well I wanted to talk to you about something." he said, sitting across from her at the table.

"What?"

"I met with your teacher yesterday." he told her.

The moment the words left his mouth, Vanessa's eyes got wide and her face paled. She opened her mouth to speak but Don beat her to it.

"Vanessa, I can't believe you would lie to me like that. Why didn't you tell me." he spoke, a little louder than he intended.

Avoiding eye contact, Vanessa kept her eyes on her breakfast. "I don't know," she said softly.

Don let out a frustrated sigh. "Look Vanessa, you should have just told me. I wouldn't have been mad at you. Nobody's perfect, okay. I understand that you might have trouble in school every once in a while but instead of lying to me about it, you need to come and tell me so I can help, alright?"

Vanessa nodded, showing that she understood. Don glanced at his watch and saw that it was time to go.

"Look, we have to go but we not finished talking about this, okay."

Once again Vanessa nodded, before slowly getting up from the table and putting her bowl in the sink. Before she left the kitchen, she turned back around to face her father. "I'm sorry Dad." she said quietly.

"I know."

________________________________________________________________________

Vanessa sat outside of her school waiting for her father to pick her up. She felt really bad about lying to him and spent the whole day trying to come up with a way to apologize. She managed to prepare a "speech" of sorts and was ready to deliver it to him.

The moment she saw his car pull up, she stood up and walked over to it. Once he stopped she climbed into the passenger seat.

"Hey, squirt. How was …"

"Look Dad. I'mreallysorryabouteverythingandididntmeantohurt…" she started saying faster than the rate of the average humans understanding level.

"Whoa, whoa. You gotta slow down Ness, cause I have no idea of what you're saying."

She took a breath before starting again. "I said that I'm really sorry about everything and I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything and I just didn't want you to be mad at me but I know that if I had told you right when I found out that you wouldn't have and I know that now and I know that you love me and just want what's best for me and that you will help me get better at reading." she said all in one breath, causing Don to chuckle.

"Look, Ness, I'm glad you finally realized that you have to tell me stuff. But you know that doesn't save from being grounded."

Vanessa slouched in her seat. "It doesn't?"

Don chuckled as he began to pull away from the school. "Nope"

The normal route back to their apartment took ten minutes but because of construction, it took them almost about an hour.

When they finally made it back Don noticed a familiar car outside the building. The occupant got out when she saw them and walked over to them.

"What took you guys so long? I've been here for a half hour." Jess asked as she reached them.

"There was construction going on and traffic was back up for able to blocks." he told her.

Jess nodded before noticing Vanessa's expression. 'You okay?"

"I'm grounded for two weeks." she stated bluntly as she made her way into the building.

Don chuckled silently to himself as he and Jess followed behind. "Sorry about making you wait so long." he apologized as they made their way up the steps.

"It's okay. I tried calling but you didn't answer."

"Yeah, my phone died earlier." he said before stopping in his tracks.

Jess looked back at him with a perplexed expression on her face. "What?" she asked him.

"Do you wanna move in with me?" he asked.

Jess's eyes got wide and she nearly choked on the non-existent food in her mouth. "What did you just say?" she asked, finally being able to find her voice.

"I said do you want to move in with me, or us?" he said, walking up to stand on the same step that she was.

"Seriously?" she questioned, not really able to form a full sentence.

Don simply shrugged. "Sure, why not. You're always hanging out here anyway. Plus Ness would love it."

Jess smiled at Don before letting out a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"It's just the question came out of nowhere."

"Well, I'm an out of nowhere kind of guy." he told her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "So, you never answered my question."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Jess gave him a huge smile. "I'd love to."

Don returned her smile before bringing his lips down to hers. "I love you." he whispered against her lips.

"I love you too." she told him before pressing her lips firmly against his. Don eagerly returned it, pulling her body closer to hers.

Their passionate kiss continued until they heard somewhat clear their throat. They slowly pulled apart and looked up to see Vanessa sitting on the top step with her elbows resting on her knees and her chin in her hands.

Don and Jess quickly backed up from each other, looking like two teenagers who had just been caught by their parents.

"Look, I hate to break you two lovebirds up, but I kinda have to pee."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N – **Okay, so I want to apologize for taking so long to update. Please don't hurt me **Montana Angell**. Lol. So to try to make it up to you guys, I'm gonna try to post as much as I can between today and tomorrow. I've got a lot of ideas for this story so keep a look out. I also will try to update **A Simple Twist of Destiny** this weekend too. So here's chapter 19. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY. But I am holding auditions for CSI: Joy World, so if anyone is interested…

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Jess trudged up the two flights of stair to her new apartment. She had finally made it home after a long but successful shift. She had managed once again to take a murderer off of the streets, an accomplishment that reminded her why she did what she did.

After sticking her key in the door, she pushed the door opened but frowned when it wouldn't open all the way because of something on the other side of it. She leaned her body against the door and pushed it harder, managing to open it wide enough to allow her body to squeeze inside the apartment. When she was finally in, she saw that a box had been blocking her way. Looking around the apartment, she saw numerous boxes stacked up all over the apartment.

Making her way through the scattered boxes, she managed to reach the living room where she saw the Don and Danny. Danny was lying on his stomach on the floor, the bottom half of his body under the coffee table. Don was lying on the sofa, his tall frame causing his feet to hang over the edge.

Jess looked at the two men with a smirk. She walked over to where Don was sleeping and looked down at him.

"Don," she said, rather loudly, causing him to quickly sit up, startled by the sudden noise.

Once he saw it was Jess, he groaned and fell back on the sofa.

"That was mean." he mumbled sleepily.

Jess chuckled and sat on the arm of the sofa, picking up his head and laying it in her lap.

"I'm guessing you guys had a busy day." she joked.

"Thanks to you. You had so much stuff Jess."

Jess laughed at his comment. "I told you but you didn't believe me. You're the one that had insisted that you don't need to hire movers because Danny had a friend who would let you borrow his moving truck for free."

"Yeah, yeah. I guess you were right." he said, his eyes still closed.

"Ha. Jess ten, Don none." Jess said with a chuckle.

"When did you get ten?" he asked, looking up at her with a smile.

"A long time ago. Keep up detective." she told him causing Don to let out a sleepy chuckle. "So, how long did it take you?"

"All day. We just finished about a half hour ago."

"Wow, it took the three of you that long."

"You mean the two of us." he corrected.

Jess raised an eyebrow at him. "Ness didn't help?"

Don smiled as he shifted on her lap. "Last I remember, she carried up one box with, a small box, and then always managed to be conveniently placed at the door so all she had to do was open it."

Jess shook her head, before looking around. "Where is she?"

Don pointed lazily to some of the larger boxes near against the wall. Jess got up and walked over to where he pointed.

She noticed in one of the boxes that there were two small Shrek slippers coming out of it. She looked inside and smiled at Vanessa, who was asleep in the box, her entire body, excluding her face and feet, covered in packing peanuts.

She felt two arms come around her waist, and leaned back into Don, who had come to stand behind her.

"Have you ever noticed how she seems to be able to sleep anywhere?" Don asked, before placing small kisses on her neck. Jess smiled and leaned back into him. Don turned her around and slowly moved down to kiss her. Before their lips could touch, Danny had popped up beside them.

"Could you guys please wait for your guest to leave before you start doing dat, stuff?" he said, ruining the moment.

Don and Jess sighed, and slowly pulled apart.

"Thanks for helping today Messer." Jess said.

"Yeah, well you coulda warned a guy about the fact that this was an all day job." he said lazily.

"You can blame Don for that one." she told him.

"Well, in that case you owe me a six pack, crime stopper." he said, patting Don on the shoulder.

"Yeah, more like one bottle."

Danny shrugged. "I'll take what I can get. You wanna hit up Sully's?"

"Nah, I got Ness here. You forget I'm a father now." he said with a grin.

"Sorry Dad," Danny said jokingly.

Jess came up to stand beside Don. "Go ahead Don. I can watch Vanessa."

Don turned to look at her. "Are you sure Jess?" he asked.

Jess looked at Vanessa who hadn't moved an inch. "We'll be fine." she said before turning back to Don. "There's a Sex in the City marathon that's calling my name."

"Oh, no." Danny said, grabbing his coat. "Come on Flack before we have to watch some chick show that has us talking about our feelings."

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After leaving the apartment, Don and Danny found themselves at Sullivan's, playing a game of pool. Though Don loved being a father, he also enjoyed moments where was able to get out on his own. He knew he couldn't come to places like this, with Vanessa. A bar was no place for an eleven year old.

"So, you and Angell are shackin up, huh?" Danny said, taking a shot.

Don leaned on his pool stick, watching. "Yeah, surprising right"

"Definitely. I never thought you would ever settle down, or at least it would be with someone different. I thought you were into those socialite, shoppy girls."

"Shoppy?"

"Yeah, you know. Oh, look Donnie, can you hold my purse why I try on this billion dollar dress." he said, making his voice higher, in attempt to sound feminine.

Don laughed at his friends' antics. "Well, dat was a long time ago, Danny. Jess is not like that. She's smart and everything."

"Well, I have to admit, I like her better than Devin or Devon, or whatever her name was."

Don laughed at the memory. Sure, Devin was a sweet girl, but he knew deep down inside that it wasn't gonna amount to anything serious. Serious. Don laughed at himself. Since when did he become the kind of guy to start thinking about becoming serious with someone? Sure, he figured he would get married one day, but he never really thought about it. He figured it would happen when it happened. But something about Jess made him feel that it would happen sooner than he thought.

Don shook the thoughts away to find Danny smirking at him with a knowing look.

"What?"

"You got that whole I love her look in your face."

Don smiled. "Yeah, well I had to deal with it with you and Linds so you owe me."

"I guess I do. But seriously Don, you really thinking about making this serious between you and Jess?"

Don shrugged. "I don't know Dan, I mean is it too soon for stuff like that? Don't you have to date for a year or something?"

"I don't know. Girls have their own little preferences about things like that. But if you and Angell ever do become man and wife, what's gonna happen with Vanessa?"

"What do you mean?" Don questioned.

"I mean, will that make Angell her mother?"

Don leaned back against the wall. He had never thought about that. Sure, Jess liked hanging out with Vanessa but becoming her mother would be a whole different story.

"I'm guessing from the look on your face that you haven't thought about that little tidbit." Danny said.

Don shook his head. "Not really. I'm asking someone to marry you is one thing but asking to become that mother of an eleven year old is a little more complicated."

Danny nodded in agreement. "Well, whatever you do, you have to remember that it will affect Vanessa as much as it affects you."

Don nodded before looking a Danny with a smile. "Wow, Danny. Since when did you become the advice giving one?"

Danny chuckled a little before answering. "When you joined the Daddy club."

Don laughed. "Well, you will be member soon too, ya know."

"Yeah, well I still got time. You however, are a real father with an eleven year old daughter, and a possible wife in the future."

Don smiled. He wouldn't have it any other way.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N – ***slowly walks into room with hands up* Please don't make me the next victim on the show. I know it's been like forever and a day since I've updated but school has been really busy. But never fear, Joy is here. (Stupid I know, but hey, you guys have probably realized that I can be that way sometimes) But enough of my pointless babbling. Here is chapter 20. HAPPY READING!!!!!

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"So, she was upset because Jacob left her for Jackie."

"Yup."

"But she didn't realize that Jackie was the ex-girlfriend of her old boyfriend Henry."

"Exactly. And Henry left her because?"

"Because he was still secretly married to Rebecca."

"Exactly."

"Wow, talk about dramatic." Don commented as he and Jess made their way back into the precinct after leaving the interrogation of a suspect.

After Don returned home from the bar that previous night, he found himself joining Jess in her Sex in the City marathon. He tried his hardest not to get too wrapped up in the story, but in the end, he found himself engrossed in the show. He spent the whole day forcing Jess to tell him more about the characters.

"So, I was thinking, maybe…" Don started but was interrupted by the ringing of his phone.

"Flack."

"Donald Flack Jr., I can't believe you."

Don moved the phone away from his ear because of the loud tone in his mother's voice. "Uh, what did I do?"

"You're living with someone I never met." she said.

"Come on Ma, you met Vanessa. Short, long dark hair, green eyes. Remember?"

The silence on the other end made Don immediately regret being sarcastic with his mother. "I mean, would you like to Jess, my girlfriend?"

"Today. When you come to pick up Vanessa, I would like it if the two of you to stay for dinner."

"Um,.. I guess we could do that." he told her, noticing the curious look on Jess's face.

"Who was that?" Jess asked once he had hung up the phone.

"That was my mother. She wants to meet you over dinner today."

"Wow, that's like, really soon."

Don stared at Jess, amused at how flustered she was quickly becoming. "You okay there, Jess?"

"Yeah, it's just, I mean, you normally go straight there from work right? That means I don't have time to go home and change or anything, Don."

"Calm down, Jess. You look fine." he told her with a chuckle.

"To you sure, but mom's are different Don."

"How so?"

"Well, woman notice things. We're really good at sizing people up, especially when it comes to our own kids, you know. Like if Vanessa brought a boy home from school one day…"

"Whoa, whoa." Don interrupted, putting his hands up. "Vanessa is not bringing home any boy home anytime soon. Trust me. She has to wait until she is a least, like thirty or something."

Jess smirked at how serious he was. "Don't tell me you're gonna be one of those fathers who opens the door for her date with a gun in one hand and your badge in the other."

Don nodded. "Yup, that will be me." he said standing up. After they gathered there things, the pair made their way out of the building together.

They were walking down the steps when Don suddenly stopped mid step. Jess turned to look at him, curious to why he stopped.

"You okay?"

"What did you say" he asked her.

"I said are you okay?"

Don shook his head at her. "No, no. Earlier."

Jess shrugged her shoulders. "You gotta be more specific Don."

He walked down the steps to meet her on the pavement. "Earlier, when you were talking about how a woman can size someone up."

Jess nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we can."

"And then you said especially when it comes to your kids."

The realization hit Jess at that moment. He was referring to the way she spoke of Vanessa as if she were own. "Well, I meant, kids in general, Don." she said, walking towards his car. She was reaching for the door when she felt him grab her arm.

"Look, Jess. I'm not mad or anything."

"Okay." she said simply before getting in the car.

Don sighed, instantly noticing how she was tried to avoid the conversation.

The drive to his parents' house was uncomfortably silent. Don was beginning to think he overstepped when he brought up their earlier conversation. It never occurred to him that maybe Jess didn't mean it in that way. Maybe she didn't really want to be thought of as Vanessa's mother. It wasn't like she was required to be or anything. Maybe she just wanted to be known as the cool girlfriend or something. Hell, maybe she never wanted to get married or anything. Maybe she was just happy where they were.

Don pushed the thoughts to the back of his head as he pulled into his parents' driveway. Turning the car off, he looked over at Jess who was starting out of the window, admiring his family home.

"So, this is where you grew up, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah." he said. "Look Jess, about earlier…"

"Don't worry about it Don. It was just a misunderstanding." she said as she excited the car.

Walking up to the front door, Jess didn't turn back to see if Don was following her. She kept mentally kicking herself for what she had said earlier. She wasn't Vanessa's mother. She was pretty sure that Don felt the same way too. He probably just wanted to take things as slow as possible. Sure, they had moved in together but that didn't mean anything. She was pretty sure that Don had been a guy who probably avoided commitment as much as possible. She didn't know why she thought that their relationship would be any different.

When she reached the front door, she felt Don behind her. He placed a hand on the small of her back and turned her to face him.

"Jess, are you sure you're okay?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"Don, I'm fine." she answered with a small smile.

Don eyed her for a moment, not fully believing her, but also knowing that now was not the time to talk about it. He slowly lowered his head and placed his lips in onto hers. He lingered for a moment before pulling back.

"You ready?" he asked softly.

"Yeah."

Don moved to put his key into the door and made his way into his parents' home.

"Hello," he called out.

His mother quickly came around the corner, drying her hands on a dish towel. The moment she looked at Jess a large smile came across her face. She walked right towards her, completely bypassing Don.

"You must be Jessica."

"Yeah, I am. It's nice to meet you." she told the other woman.

Christine smiled at Jess, before pulling her into a warm embrace. "It's nice to meet you too sweetie. You can call me Christine. Wow, you're so pretty. Don's really lucky. I'm surprised though because normally he doesn't have a good taste in woman, but I can tell you're different."

"Gee, thanks ma." Don said sarcastically.

"Oh, stop with that sarcasm Donnie. Go get your father. He and Vanessa are in the basement." she said before linking arms with Jess. "And you can come help me in the kitchen. I hope you like lasagna" she said, pulling Jess along with her.

Jess was more than eager to comply with the woman. She could already tell how much she would enjoy this dinner.

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"So then, I ask Donnie what he's doing, and he says he has to go undercover to save the hostages."

Everyone at the dinning room table began to howl in laughter, everyone except Don. His father was telling the story of how Don dressed up in his mother's clothing and planned to walk out of the house in the middle of the night. Apparently he read in a comic that he had to dress up as a woman to defeat the bad guys.

Don, trying to hide his embarrassment, looked over at his father. "Thanks Dad. I mean come on, I was seven."

"So, it was still funny." his father replied. Don Sr. looked a lot like Don in the face except he was more aged, the smooth wrinkles taking over his face. They definitely seemed to share some of the same personality traits.

Don looked next to him to see Jess still laughing at the story. "You laughing at me Angell?"

"Yup," she replied through her laughs.

Don shook his head before looking across from him at Vanessa who was also giggling. "And what are you laughing at squirt?"

"The image of you in a dress." she answered, causing more laughs.

Don just sat back and watched as his family enjoyed themselves, even though it was at his expense. Though the moment was a beautiful one, he still couldn't help but think of the future. He knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Jess, and for a while he was pretty confident that she felt the same way. But now, he wasn't sure. He didn't know what she wanted. He hated not knowing.

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**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY. I bet all you guys thought I forgot, but I didn't. Just keeping ya on your toes. LOL.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N – **So once again, I'm here. And I have great news. I FINISHED MY SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! That means more time to write. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!! Okay, I'll stop playing with the CAPS LOCK. Lol. Here's chapter 21. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **Do I own CSI NY? *shakes magic 8 ball* ….. Try again later. :(

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Don pinched the bridge of his nose as he stood his most recent crime scene. The wind picked up as he grimaced at the fact that his already existing headache was becoming worse.

The whole day had not been going so well for Don. After getting back home from his parents' house the day before, Jess had gone straight to bed and left before he woke up, not giving the couple anytime to talk. He kept trying to tell himself that it was only because she had the early shift, that she hadn't been ignoring him. Unfortunately, he knew that wasn't the case.

He understood that Jess was trying to avoid him and it broke his heart. He wanted to tell her that he wasn't trying to force her to be Vanessa's mother or anything. He knew that she was a great role model for Vanessa and that she didn't have to have the mother title to do that.

Sighing, he did his best to push the thoughts aside as he saw Danny duck under the crime tape and walked closer to him.

"I hate when it's both cold and windy. It shouldn't be allowed to do both." he complained.

He looked up at Don, waiting for a sarcastic comment in return, but frowned when he got nothing. "You alright there Flack?"

"Huh?" Don asked, looking up from the spot on the ground that he had been staring at.

"I said, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." he told him.

Danny looked at his friend, knowing that there was more but also knowing that now was not the time seeing as how they had a job to do.

"So what do we got?" Danny asked as he leaned down next to the body of an elderly man.

"Robert Carter, 86 years old. I got three witnesses that say he was approached by a young Caucasian male wearing a red hoodie and black jeans. They all say that he forced the victim to give him his wallet before pushing him to the ground and running."

Danny shook his head. "Just another punk robbery." he said before standing up and scanning the crowd stopping at one particular person. "I can't believe this."

"What?"

"Do you see what I see?"

Don followed his line of vision until his eyes landed on a young teenager wearing the exact same thing that he had written in his notebook. He gave Danny a knowing look before walking over to the teenager.

"Excuse me, can we talk for a minute." he asked.

Before the question left his mouth, the teenager broke out into a run. Both Don and Danny took after the boy, ducking under the crime tape, yelling at pedestrians to get out of the way.

It didn't take long for Don to be able to grab the back of the boy's hood and slam him against a parked car.

"What do you think you're doing huh?" he yelled as he turned the boy around, placing the handcuffs on his wrist.

Danny ran up a few seconds later, clutching something in his hand. "Hey Flack, your phone fell when you were running." he told him, showing him the shattered pieces in his hand.

"Great, just what I needed." he said sarcastically.

"Hey look at the bright side. You solve a case in less then ten minutes and you get to get a new phone from the department. If you're lucky, you'll get one of those fancy touch screen phones."

For the first time that day, Don smiled. Maybe the day wouldn't be so bad after all.

________________________________________________________________________

Jess walked into the lab, hoping that her day would take a turn in the positive direction. So far, nothing had been going her way. She had been avoiding Don all morning, but she knew that that method would only last so long. Sitting at her desk, she waited for her next call, praying that maybe she would get lucky and nothing would come her way.

She looked up when she heard footsteps approaching her desk. She smiled as Stella took a sit in the empty chair next to her desk.

"What's going on with you Angell?" she asked.

"Nothing much. I closed an earlier case this morning so now I'm just waiting for something else to come my way. What about you?"

"Same. Isn't it funny how we complain about having too many cases, but then when we don't have any, where just as unhappy." she noted, causing Jess to let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, this job definitely screws you up that way." she agreed.

Stella started at the younger woman, noticing that her smile didn't seem genuine. "You okay Jess?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Stella raised an eyebrow. "It's Don isn't it."

Jess smiled at her ability to read people so well. "How do you do that?"

Stella shrugged. "I don't know. Just add it to my list of amazing talents."

"Will do. But Don and I are doing fine. Just having one if those moments, you know."

Stella nodded in understanding. "Yeah, but I have to tell you Angell, ever since you and Flack started dating, he's seems a lot happier. He really cares about you and whatever it is that's going on, you should just talk to him about it."

Jess nodded. "Thanks Stell. I have to say, it's nice having another woman to talk to."

"I know what you mean. This job doesn't really allow time for girlfriends does it?'

"Nope. When I think about it, ninety percent of my friends work in or with the department in some way."

Stella thought for a moment. "That's so true. Well, I guess we got to stick together then, huh?"

Jess nodded. "I guess so."

Before either could speak again, Mac walked up to them. "I hope you ladies weren't having too much fun. I just heard about a 416 over on 56th."

Stella frowned. "416? What's that, a suspicious fire?"

Mac nodded. "Apparently an elementary school down on 56th just went up in flames. The fire's been put out already but the fire fighters have reason to believe it was arson."

"Wow, that's pretty twisted for someone to set a school on fire. Is everyone okay?" Stella asked, as they made their way out of the building.

"So far, there's only been one victim, one of the teachers. I heard that a few of the kids were hurt too." Mac informed them.

"What school was it?" Angell asked as they reached one of the SUVs.

"Uh, Grove Elementary School" he told her.

The moments the words left his Mac, Angell froze in her spot. She felt her heart drop and almost couldn't take another breath. A wave of panic shot through her body.

Noticing, Stella placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Jess looked at up at her, eyes wide in fear. "That's Vanessa's school."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N – **Okay my fellow fanfictioners. (Is that a word? The squiggly red line on my computer says no, but who cares.) I just want to say thank you for the reviews and sorry for the cliffhanger. I know you guys hated it, but hey, that's life. So here is chapter 22. I'm just about done chapter 23, so look for it soon. HAPPY READING!!!!

**Disclaimer – ***Sits on rock with sunflower and begins picking off the petals.* I own CSI NY. I own it not. I own CSI NY. I own it not. I own CSI NY. I own it not. *Realizes that there are no more petals* DARN IT!!

________________________________________________________________________

Jess, Stella, and Mac arrived at Vanessa's school in less than ten minutes. Jess got out of the passenger seat before Mac could completely stop the car. She looked in horror at the charred building in front of her. It wasn't completely burned to the ground, but a good portion of it had noticeable damage. The firefighters were finished putting out the flames but were surveying the damage, trying to find a cause for the fire.

Jess turned towards the crowd of frightened children and frantic parents standing behind the police tape, eyes scanning for Vanessa, but she couldn't see her. She ran over to the crowd, pushing her way through searching for the familiar face.

"Vanessa!" she called out but got no response. She ran a hand over her face, her hearting beating faster than it ever has. Everyone around her seemed to be moving in slow motion as she tried to regain her composure.

In the distance, she could hear her name being called. It wasn't until she felt a hand on her shoulder that she realized it was Stella.

"Angell, are you alright." she asked, her voice full of concern.

"I don't see her Stella, where is she? Oh my God…she could be hurt…" she said, not able to control her breathing.

"Listen to me." Stella told her, firmly placing her hands on Jess's shoulders. "We're going on to find her okay, just calm down." she said before turning to one of the officers already at the scene. "Do you have a list of the hospitalized students yet?"

The officer nodded, handing her a clipboard. Stella's eyes scanned the list, reading the names out loud. "Jennifer Brown, Kyle Martin, Lisa Ramirez, Paul Barrows, and Ashley Green." she said, before looking up at Jess. "She's not there."

"So what does that mean, she is either somewhere in the crowd or still trapped inside." Jess asked, hoping her first guess was the right one.

"Look Angell, we're going to get her okay. She'll be fine." Stella told her, staring directly into her eyes. At that moment, Jess was pleased to have Stella there with her. She had always trusted the older woman but now she really that Stella would do all she could.

Jess nodded with a sigh and turned back to the building. She knew she had to be strong, especially for Don.

_Don_. Jess had forgotten all about him. She quickly pulled out her phone and dialed the familiar number.

"I'm sorry, the number you dialed is currently unavailable. Please disconnect and try again." the robotic female voice spoke. Jess frowned at the phone, wondering why it chose now to act up.

_Calm down Jess, everything is fine. You have to stay calm _she tried to tell her self but it wasn't working. She couldn't stop her heart from beating so fast paced.

"Hey Angell, have you told Flack." Mac asked as he came up to them.

"I tried, but it said it was disconnected or something."

Mac nodded and pulled out his phone, dialing a different number.

________________________________________________________________________

"So then I said, sweetheart, you may be cute and all, but I got a woman at home waitin and she is the only one for me. Next thing I know, she dumps her whole beer on me." Danny said, causing fits of laughter to escape from Don and Sheldon.

The three men were sitting in the break room of the lab. Don and Danny had been lucky enough to have a slow day thanks to their simple case that morning and Sheldon had later joined them in their rare moment of relaxation.

Danny was about to continue his story when his phone rang.

"Messer…Oh hey Mac, you will never guess….what…is she okay…yeah, he's here…his phone broke earlier…we're on are way." After he hung up his phone, he looked up a Don, a sober expression on his face.

"What?" Don asked, growing concerned.

"There was a fire down at Grove Elementary…" Danny started but was interrupted at the sight of Don racing out of the room.

________________________________________________________________________

Jess stood as close as she was allowed to get to the building as firefighters continued to dig through the remains. They hadn't given anyone permission to come closer until they were sure that everything was secure.

She hadn't been able to control her breathing since they arrived. She kept telling herself to stay calm, but it wasn't efficient.

"Jess?" she heard her name being called by a voice she prayed was the one she thought it was.

She spun around and saw Vanessa standing behind the crime tape. Jess ducked underneath the tape and pulled Vanessa into a tight hug.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked frantically, pulling back and checking her body for any injuries.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine Jess." she told her.

"Where were you? I was looking everywhere."

"My classroom is towards the back on the school, so we went out that way." she told her, noticing that Jess still looked panicked. She placed her small hand on the older woman's shoulder. "I'm fine Jess, really."

A warm smile came across Jess's face, showing she was thankful for the gesture. "Come on," she told Vanessa, taking her hand and leading her back towards the rest of the team.

"This is so cool." Vanessa said with a smile.

"What is?"

"Being on this side of the crime tape. Makes me feel special."

"Well you are." Jess reassured her as they reached Stella and Mac. "Look who I found."

The two CSIs turned around and smiled at the sight of Vanessa. Stella gave the girl a warm hug and Mac patted her on the shoulder.

"I'm glad you're okay." Stella told her.

"Thanks Stella" she said with a smile.

"Hey Vanessa, your father is on his way. He's really worried about you." Mac said.

Just as he finished his statement, Don's car pulled up next to their SUV. He got out and ran up to them, or ran up to Vanessa. He immediately knelt down beside her and began searching her body for any scars. "Are you alright Vanessa?" he asked frantically.

Vanessa cupped his face so he would look her in the eye. "Dad, I'm fine. You can't stop worrying. It gives you wrinkles."

Don cracked a smile at her joke, picking her up. "Ha, ha. Aren't you funny." he said playfully. He looked over and finally noticed Jess was there. "Hey" he said softly.

She smiled up at him and slightly nodded her head. Don frowned. That wasn't exactly the greeting he was hoping for.

Noticing the tension, Stella led Mac, along with Danny and Sheldon, who had came with Don, away so they could start working the scene.

Watching them leave, Jess spoke up. "Well, I guess I better start gathering some statements, see what happened. Hopefully not a case of foul play, but you never know." she said before turning to walk away.

"Jess," he called to her.

She stopped and turned around, looking him in the eye. He couldn't read the expression on her face, and that bothered him.

Setting Vanessa down, he walked over to her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine Don." she said flatly.

"Look, about the other day…" he started.

"Look, Don, I got a lot of work to do. You should just take Vanessa home, and we can talk later okay." she told him.

Don let out a defeated sigh and nodded. As much as he wanted to talk to her, he knew that now wasn't the time.

He watched as she made her way over to the crowd and pulled out the small note book she used to record the statements. He knew she was trying to put their "talk" off until later and he couldn't blame her. He can't believe he had been stupid enough to try to imply that she was Vanessa's mother. Now it was taking a toll on their relationship.

Sighing, he led Vanessa back to the car, both looking forward to, and dreading the time when Jess got home.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N – **Alright my fellow CSI NY fans, I'm here with another chapter. I'm trying to start making them longer so this is my first attempt. I hope you like it. HAPPY READING!!!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY, but I do own the second placed ribbon for the science fair. YAY ME!! (Shameless plug on my victory. Lol.)

________________________________________________________________________

Jess watched as Don and Vanessa left the scene. She was so thankful that Vanessa was okay, knowing that she wouldn't have been able to handle it if she wasn't. But then there was Don. She knew that he was ready to talk, but she just wasn't ready.

Sighing, she made her way over to the rest of the team, who were preparing to go into the school. The firefighters had called out that it was secure enough for them to enter. The team slowly made their way inside through what used to be the front door.

"Well, the fire seems focused in this part of the school." Stella observed, pointing to the area to the left of the front entrance.

She was right. Even though the whole area seemed to be burned badly, a certain spot just to the left seemed to be charred completely. Mac bent down to take a closer look at the spot.

"There seems to be some type of indentation here." he said, making a rectangle with his finger.

"Looks like the outline of a piece of furniture." Danny pointed out.

"Maybe a desk of some sort." Jess commented, noticing the shape and size.

Mac turned to Jess as he stood up. "See if you can get a layout of the school. I want to know exactly who's desk this may have been." he told her.

Jess nodded. "I'll run background checks on the staff to see if anything pops up." she told him, before leaving the CSIs to do what they did best.

As she made her way back to her car, her phone rang.

"Angell"

"Ha. I get a kick out of that every time you say that." the voice joked on the other end.

"Hello to you too Will" Jess said with a smile.

"You know I'm just messing with you." he told her.

"If that's the only reason you called, then you're about to get disconnected." she said, getting into the car to head back to the precinct.

"Oh, my. Touchy, touchy. As much as I would like to give you a fancy comeback, I will tell you that I'm only calling to warn you."

"About?"

"Mom's on her, I-want-the-whole-family-together kick again." her brother told her.

Jess groaned as she made a right turn "Again. I thought she was still on her I-want-to-travel-the-world kick."

"Nope. That's dead and gone. Plus, Thanksgiving is next week. Just expect a call from her. She'll be expecting you to bring your little boyfriend too."

Once again, Jess groaned. "I don't know if he's ready for the all you guys"

"Well, you better make him ready. From all the stuff you tell us about him and his daughter, Mom's ready to pack us all up in the minivan and visit you guys."

Jess smiled into the phone. She had been telling her family about her and Don. She knew everyone, mostly her mother, were eager to meet him.

"Well, I'll talk to him about it, but I can't make any promises, okay." she said with a defeated sigh.

"Hey, don't get so defensive. I'm on your side. I trust your judgment. Its everyone else you have to worry about."

Jess knew that much was true. Growing up with four brothers definitely put her between a rock and a hard place when it came to dating. Will was the only one of her brothers that trusted who she dated.

Will and Jess were the closest in age. He was only a year older than her, unlike their other brothers who were 5, 7, and 9 years older. Will and Jess were inseparable growing up. Even though he stayed in New Jersey and she came to New York, they stayed closing, calling each other as much as they could.

"Look Will, I got to go," she told him as she pulled up in front of the precinct. "I'll call you later, okay."

"Sure thing Jelly."

Jess smiled at the childhood nickname. "Bye." she told him before hanging up.

Getting out of the car, she made her way up the steps so she could gather some information to help them on the case.

________________________________________________________________________

About an hour or so later, Jess was walking through the crime lab, folder in hand, looking for one of the CSIs on her case.

She was pleased to see Stella and Danny going over something in the trace lab.

"Well, I've got good, great, and amazing news." she announced walking into the room.

"We'll take them in that order please." Stella said with a smile.

"Well, I was able to find a layout of the school. The area with the charred desk turned out to be the secretary's desk. A Carla Harris." she read out the file, before handing it to Stella.

"I take it that that was the good news. What's the great news?" Danny asked.

"Well I ran a background check on our little secretary, and it turns out that she changed her name. She was originally Carla Harrison." she informed them.

"Well that's creative." Danny mumbled.

Jess smiled before continuing. "Carla Harrison has a record, which includes shoplifting, and fraud."

"Nice. And the amazing news is?" Danny asked.

"Arson." Stella said.

"Huh?" Danny questioned, confused.

"Carla Harrison spent five years in prison for arson." Stella read from the file.

"Exactly" Jess commented.

"Wait, if she did start the fire, why would she torch her own desk?" Danny pondered.

"Well, I can't tell you why but I can tell you how." Hawkes said, walking into the room just in time to here the tail end of the conversation.

"Really." Stella asked.

"Yup. The swabs we collected from around the desk came back as methanol, hydroxide."

"Nail polish remover." Danny concluded.

"Well, that's often an ideal accelerant" Stella said. "Plus Carla may keep it with her"

"I guess there's only one thing left to do." Hawkes said.

"Let's go talk to Carla Harris." Jess told them.

________________________________________________________________________

"So, tell us why you were arrested Ms. Harris. Or should I say Ms. Harrison" Jess asked the woman who sat across from her in the interrogation room.

The petite blond woman pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. She stared at Jess with her deep green eyes.

"I don't know what your talking about." she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh come on Carla," Danny started. "We know all about your little past run-ins with the law, so stop playing dumb. Tell us why you started that fire."

Carla sat in silence and rolled her eyes at the two detectives. "Do I need a lawyer or something?"

"Are you guilty?" Jess asked, not missing a beat.

"No. I didn't do anything."

"So where were you when the fire started?"

"It was during my lunch break. I went to the little café on the corner to get a fat-free salad and I came back to see the school on fire."

After a little more questioning, Jess and Danny left the room frustrated and tired. They had asked another detective to check out here alibi and she had been telling the truth.

Making their out of the precinct, Danny remembered something. "Did she say fat-free salad?"

________________________________________________________________________

Jess finally arrived back to the apartment around 11:30 that evening.

She quietly made her way into the kitchen, knowing that everyone was probably asleep. She went into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. Leaning against the counter, she slowly drank her water, frustrated with the day's events.

Deep in thought, she never noticed that shadowing figure that was walking into the kitchen.

"Hey."

Jess shrieked at the sound of the voice, causing her to drop her glass which shattered all over the floor.

"Oh God, you scared the hell out of me Don." she said, with her hand over her heart.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to." he said softly.

Jess nodded as she bent down to pick up the broken glass. Don walked over and knelt down to help her.

Once all the pieces had been discarded, the two stood in the kitchen, not sure of what to do next.

"I think I'm going to go to bed." Jess said softly.

She began to walk out of the kitchen but stopped when she felt Don grab her arm. She turned around to protest but was stopped when Don's lips softly came over hers. She slowly melted into him as he cupped her face with his large hands. Her hands went over his as she pulled back and looked into his bright blue eyes.

"I love you Jess." he told her, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I love you too Don." she told him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her, pulling her close.

"Look Jess, about the other day…"

"Don't worry about it." she interrupted.

"No Jess. I can't do that. Just let me finish." he told her, staring down at her, his eyes full of concern mixed with determination.

"I'm sorry if I put you on the spot the other day. I know that you being with me doesn't make you Vanessa's mother, and I'm sorry if I pushed that on you. I guess I just think of you that way sometimes. I keep trying to give you a title of some type and I realize now that you don't need one. I 'm happy with you just being my girlfriend and I'm not asking you for anything more than that." he told her.

A broad grin came across Jess's face after he finished talking. Don raised his brow at her reaction.

"Jess?"

She chuckled a little before leaning up and kissing him on the lips. After pulling back, she couldn't help but chuckle again.

"Wanna tell me what's so funny?"

"We really need to work on our communication skills." she told him. "Don, I was worried because I misread what you said. This whole time I thought you didn't think of me as Vanessa's mother, and I freaked out because I kinda did."

"So what, you _want to _be Vanessa's mother." he asked, surprised.

"Well, I'm not saying I'm ready to put it on paper, but I like the idea." she told him with a smile.

"I can handle that." he told her.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." he said with a chuckle. "Any other questions?"

Jess thought for a moment. "What are you doing for Thanksgiving?"


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N – **Alrighty everyone. Like always, thanks for the reviews and everything. It means a lot. Here's chappie 24. HAPPY READING!!

**Diclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY. Probably never will.

________________________________________________________________________

"What are you still doing here?"

Jess looked up from the case file to see Stella standing at her desk with her arms folded over chest.

"What?"

"I said, what are you doing here? I thought you and Don were going to Jersey for the holiday."

"Yeah, we are. We're leaving today since Thanksgiving is tomorrow. We'll probably be back on Saturday. We're going to leave around 3:00 to get there by dinner time." she told Stella, looking back at the file.

"Jess, it's like 2:55" she said, matter-of-factly.

Jess glanced at her watch, muttering curse words under her breath. She quickly got up, gathering various files together.

"Whoa, whoa, Jess what are you doing?"

"I'm just going to take these with me. These are the files on the fire at Vanessa's school. I don't know, maybe I might see something that I missed." she said.

"No," Stella said simply, causing Jess to look up.

"No what?"

"Jess, I am not going to let you take those files with you. This is the first time that the three of you are going somewhere together, and I am not going to let you ruin that with all of this case drama." Stella told her, a look of determination on her face.

"But Stella,"

"No buts about it. I'll work on the case." she interrupted.

"But I don't want you to spend Thanksgiving working because of me." Jess told her.

"No worries, I was working anyway. Plus I'm just as eager to solve this one as you."

Jess gave Stella a genuine smile as she handed over her files. "Thanks Stella. I owe you one."

"Don't worry about it." she replied with a smile. "You better hurry up and get home if you guys want to beat traffic."

Jess thanked her again before heading out the door. She was able to get home rather quickly, something she was thankful for, seeing as how she was already putting them behind schedule.

She rushed up the steps and into the apartment, excepting to see Don standing in the doorway, bags in hand.

Opening the door, she realized that she was in fact wrong because the foyer was empty. She moved further into the apartment, setting her work bag on the sofa.

"Don," she called out.

She jumped when two arms came around her waist, pulling her back.

"You're late." he spoke softly in her ear.

Jess smiled as she turned around to see Don grinning down at her. "Yeah, well, who cares?" she said before leaning up to place a small kiss on his lips. Don eagerly returned the kiss, becoming more intense by moment. Jess played with the hair on the back of his head as his hands went to her waist, pulling her closer.

"Ew, gross. Why do you guys always do that?" a voice spoke, causing the pair to instantly break apart.

"Ew, gross. Why do _you_ always do that?" Don replied, playing mocking her, earning him a smack on the arm from Jess.

"It's just weird seeing you two kissing and everything." she said, taking a seat on the sofa.

"She's right Don. When I was younger, I hated seeing my parents do that." Jess pointed out.

Don thought for a moment before nodding. "That's true." he said in agreement.

"So," Jess said, clapping her hands together. "Are we all ready to go?"

"Yup." Don said, looking around the room. "Even though we'll probably be late thanks to a certain someone."

Jess held her hands up in defense. "Hey don't get mad at me mister. You're the one who used to work for like two days straight." she pointed out.

"Well that's before I had a reason to come home." he said, grinning at her.

"Aww, look at you, trying to sweet talk your way out of an insult." she said, placing her arms around his neck.

"Is it working?"

Jess didn't answer but instead leaned up to place another kiss on his lips.

From the sofa, Vanessa let out a loud groan. "You're doing it again."

________________________________________________________________________

"Make a right at the next street." Jess instructed Don as the trio drove through the New Jersey suburbs. Don had insisted he drove so that Jess could get some rest after having to work earlier in the day, though, like he expected, she didn't sleep at all.

Vanessa however, was not having that problem. She slept pretty much the whole ride there. Don always wondered how one person could sleep as much as she could.

As Don made the right on the street that Jess had told him to, his eyes got wide in surprise.

"You live here?" he asked, eyeing the houses.

"Used to." she reminded him. "It's just the family home."

"Jess, these aren't houses. These are mansions." he said, still in awe.

Jess rolled her eyes at the expression on his face. The neighborhood did have some rather large houses, but she wouldn't go as far as calling them mansions.

"Jess, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly does your mom do for a living. I know your father is a desk sergeant and they make decent money but these places are crazy. I'm starting to think we should move out here and join the Jersey PD."

Jess chuckled at how serious he seemed. "You wouldn't leave New York for a million dollars."

"A million dollars? I don't know Jess. With a million dollars I just might live anywhere." he said with a grin.

"Whatever." she said jokingly.

"So you never answered my question about your mom."

"She's a retired principal. She started off as a reading specialist at a high school but eventually became the principal." she informed her.

"Wow, that's nice."

"That's it right there Don." she said pointing to the house on the end of the street.

Don pulled into the driveway of the large, two story house. The outside was a mixed of red brick and white paneling. The front yard was full of grass that almost looked green to be real. A long stone walkway led up to the front door of the house.

"Wake up, Ness. We're here." Don said, reaching into the backseat and gently shaking her knee.

Vanessa woke slowly, stretching her arms and letting out a huge yawn. She glanced outside the window and raised her eyebrows at the house.

"This is where you grew up?"

"Yup. Home sweet home. Oh and Ness, I just want to warn you about my mom."

Both Vanessa and Don eyed her suspiciously. "What do you mean?" Vanessa asked.

"My mom had four sons, and now she has four grandchildren all who are boys. Let's just say when she heard you were a girl, she freaked." she informed them.

Don laughed as the three of them got out the car. He opened the trunk and began unloading there bags when he hear a loud shriek. He looked up to see a short, petite woman running out of the house.

He laughed out loud when she ran right past Jess who was waiting with open arms to Vanessa who was leaning against the car.

"Oh my goodness. You're so beautiful. Look at you. Jessie, she's amazing." she exclaimed, pinching Vanessa's cheeks.

Vanessa eyes were wide, both from shock and humor. "Hi. Nice to meet you." her voice muffled because of pinching.

"And she's so polite."

"Nice to see you too Mom." Jess said dully, moving to stand beside Don.

The woman looked away from Vanessa for the first time and Don could tell right away that Jess got her looks from her mother. In the face, the two looked just alike, her mother bearing more wrinkles. She had the same color hair as Jess except her's was mixed with gray. Don also noticed that Jess's mother was noticeably shorter than Jess. She looked to be only 5 feet tall.

The woman noticed Don and ran up to him almost in the same fashion.

"Oh my, are you Don. Wow, you're quite the hunk aren't ya?"

"Mom," Jess hissed, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Oh, calm down Jessie. I'm not saying anything that isn't true am I?"

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Angell."

"Oh posh," she said swatting the hand he extended and pulled him into a hug. The height difference forced Don to have to lean down so she could reach his shoulders. "You call me Nikki."

"Yes mam."

She was about to comment on his latest statement when another voice broke into the conversation.

"You better be careful ma, before you scare them away."

"Will!" Jess exclaimed, running up to the man who was walking down the path, dressed in jeans and a gray t-shirt. She enveloped him in a huge hug that he was eager to return.

"How ya doing Jelly?" he asked as they pulled apart.

"Not bad." she told him before leading his towards Don.

When they reached him, Don noticed that he too looked just like their mother, except his hair was a lighter brown. He had shaggy hair and stood about Don's height. His forest green eyes scanned Don up and down before extending his hand.

"I'm guessing your Don." he said, shaking his hand.

"And you're Will." Don replied, returning the gesture.

"Yup. I gotta say bro, I applaud you on being able to put up with Jess. I'm sure it ain't easy." he joked as Jess slapped the back of his head.

"Would you two stop it." Nikki scolded, causing Vanessa to giggle.

Will walked over to her and knelt down in front of her. "Well hello cutie. I'm guessing your Vanessa."

"Yup."

"Awesome." he replied before standing back up. "So I don't know about you guys but I'm ready to continue this little pow wow inside."

"Alright. Vanessa, Don you two come with me. Let Jess and Will get your bags." she said, grabbing Don and Vanessa buy the hand a leading them inside.

"Wow Jelly. Seems like you're not mom's favorite anymore." he said with a laugh.

"I guess not."

________________________________________________________________________

Don't worry. We'll meet more of Jess's family in the next chapter. If you're ready, raise your hand.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N – **Hello all! Thank you to anyone who reviewed, read, added as a story alert, breezed through, or scrolled past this story. I appreciate it. (Well, maybe not the last one. LOL.) But I'm back and I've brought chapter 25. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – ***Holds up protest sign outside of the CBS headquarters and begins to yell* LET ME OWN CSI NY. LET ME OWN CSI NY. LET ME OWN CSI NY. *Drops sign and sighs.* This protest isn't very effective by myself. Anyone care to join?

________________________________________________________________________

"So, how did you two meet?" Will asked as he and Jess started getting the bags out of the trunk.

"Will, you know we work together." she said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything. For all I know you could have met him at a strip club or something."

"Do I really seem like the kind of person that hangs out in strip clubs?"

"Maybe." he replied with a shrug.

Once again Jess rolled her eyes and made her way towards the house.

She sighed as she entered the house, memories all coming back to her now. There were plenty of good ones, but there were also ones she tried her hardest to forget.

"You okay?" Will asked as he came up beside her, breaking her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Will eyed her suspiciously, knowing there was more to it than that but decided to put it off until later. They sat the bags against the wall in the large foyer. They moved into the kitchen where Don and Vanessa sat on the bar stools while her mother was talking about something. Whatever it was, it was keeping their attention.

"And then the power went out." she was saying.

Both Will and Jess groaned, knowing what story she was telling.

"Mom, can we please save this story for another day. This isn't something you talk about the first time you meet someone." she complained.

"I don't know Jess. It's starting to get good." Don joked.

"Exactly. It's a great story." she told her daughter before turning back to Don and Vanessa. "Anywho, there we were. Right in the den. Now remember Will was only a one year old, so he was crying. My other sons were."

"Five, seven, and nine." Will interrupted, already knowing the story by heart. Much to her children's dismay, Nikki was known to tell the story of the child's birth to anyone they brought over, even if it was just a friend from school.

Ignoring her son, Nikki continued. "So I told my oldest son, TJ, well his name is Timothy Jr. but we just call him TJ, to get some candles so we can see. But you see, it was so dark, he couldn't find them. So instead, he pulls out a flash light and shines it right on my..."

"Mom!" Jess exclaimed. "Vanessa's eleven okay, can we please keep it PG."

"Or how about we avoid the whole story as a whole." a voice spoke.

They all turned to see a man walk into the room, wearing jeans and a New Jersey PD T-Shirt. Timothy Angell stood a little shorter than Don but seemed to still be in good shape. He had deep brown eyes and wrinkles on his face, along with dimples that were shown because of the wide smile he had on his face. Don could still see what he called the "police stance" in him as he walked into the kitchen.

"Dad!" Jess shouted as she gave him a huge hug, rubbing his bald head with her hands.

"How's my girl?" he asked, his voice deep and an evident Jersey accent.

"I'm good Dad." she told him.

He smiled at her again before turning to Vanessa. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Vanessa." she told him.

"Vanessa who?"

"Vanessa Flack." she said, confused as why he didn't know who she was.

"Flack…I'm sorry but that doesn't ring a bell."

Vanessa was about to tell him more, but the small smirk on his face made her realize that he was joking.

"I almost had ya, didn't I?"

"_Almost_." she said with a smile.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Vanessa Flack." he said before turning to Don. "And you must be Don." he said, shaking Don's hand.

"Nice to meet you sir." Don said.

"Call me Tim. And nice to meet you too. I hope my wife isn't scaring you off with her birth stories." he asked.

"Not at all. Her story is nothing compared to my mom's potty training stories." Don told him.

"Oh, that reminds me of when Jess was sitting on the toilet."

"Mom!" Jess exclaimed.

________________________________________________________________________

"I love your Mom." Don said.

Jess rolled her eyes, as she went through her bag, retrieving a white tank top and green pajama bottoms. "You say that now, but just wait until the end of our visit. You'll be so ready to go home."

Don and Jess were staying in the guest room of the house. Don was actually surprised that her parents gave them a room together, even though Jess figured they would. Vanessa was staying down the hall in Jess's own room.

"_What did you expect?" Jess asked as she showed her old bedroom to Don and Vanessa. Much to their surprise, the room was decorated with posters of rock bands and soccer players._

_Don shrugged. "I don't know, maybe some dolls."_

_Jess gave Don a pointed look. "Do I really seem like the kind of girl that played with dolls?"_

Don chuckled as he flopped on the bed, clad in navy blue pajama bottoms and an NYPD t-shirt. "Jess, she's not that bad. You're old man is pretty cool too."

"Yeah, he always has been. I guess you could say that whenever Mom starts to take things too far, he's always there to reel here back in. Just wait until tomorrow when everyone comes over for Thanksgiving. She won't be able to stop." she told him, changing into her pajamas.

"I'm sure it will be fun." he said.

"We'll see about that. My crazy family might just scare you off" she said with a laugh, before climbing in the bed, resting her head in the crook of her neck.

Don placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I doubt that. It's gonna take more than a couple of crazy relatives to get rid of me."

Jess looked at him, pecking him on the lips. "You say that now, but let's see if you say it after tomorrow.

Don smiled down at here, running a hand over her head. Jess snuggled closer, enjoying the moment, all while thinking of the craziness ahead.

________________________________________________________________________

Don awoke the next morning, hearing Jess's slow breathing, indicating that she was still asleep. He slowly, moved her off of him and stood up, running a hand over his face. He looked back down at Jess, who hadn't budged since he got up. He smiled down at her, knowing she was probably tired and needed the rest.

Don slowly made his way out of their room, and went to the room to where Vanessa was sleeping. He peaked inside, but saw the bed was empty so he turned to go downstairs. He followed the voiced he heard into the kitchen. He walked inside and saw Vanessa sitting on a bar stool, talking and laughing with Tim. The two were leaning over a bowl of string beans, picking the ends off.

"Good morning Detective." Tim spoke, noticing Don walk in the room.

"Good morning." he replied with a smile, before placing a kiss on Vanessa head.

"String bean?" she offered.

"No thanks." he said with a frown.

Vanessa laughed before turning back to Tim. "Told ya. He hates string beans yet he always tells me I should eat them. Paradox? I think so."

"Paradox? What kinda schools do they got in New York when eleven year olds are using words like paradox." Tim joked.

Don laughed, taking a seat next to Vanessa. In actuality, Vanessa was being tutored three times a week to help with her reading. Her tutor gave her new words every other session to remember and she had the habit if using them whenever she had a conversation.

"Coffee, Don?" Tim offered.

"Sure."

As Tim began making the coffee, Don finally noticed the pink flower apron he was wearing. "You do a lot of cooking?" he asked with a grin.

Tim looked down at his apron and chuckled. "Well, when your wife has the cooking skills of a three year-old, you acquire the necessary skills. Will gave me the apron as a gift."

"So how did you raise five kids, four of whom are boys? I mean, one is proving to be enough." he said, cocking his head towards Vanessa.

"Well, I guess you just gotta realize that no matter how hard it gets, they are still your kids and they need you to take care of them. I don't know whose harder, boys or girls."

"Boys." Vanessa said plainly.

"And how do you know?" Tim asked, with a smile.

"Because, there weird." she told them.

"Are not!" Will exclaimed, walking in the kitchen. He only lived about five minutes away, so he had arrived early. "Girls are weird." he said sticking his tongue out at Vanessa.

Tim shook his head at his son. "Well, I don't know whose easier, boys or girls, but I do know that raising Will was probably the most challenging."

Will laughed and placed a hand on Don's shoulder. "Don't listen to him Don, he's just a cranky old man."

"No, you're just an annoying old fart." Jess said, joining them in the kitchen. She knocked Will's hand off of Don's shoulder and replaced with hers before leaning down and placing a small kiss on his lips.

Vanessa covered her eyes, groaning at them. Will glanced at her with a smile, before doing the same. "Ew Jess, you're hurting my eyes." he joked.

"Grow up Will." Jess told him.

Tim sighed at his children. "Alright children." he said, glancing at Jess and Will. "It's time for you to leave the kitchen so I can cook."

"Dad has this thing that no one can be in here while he's cooking." Jess told Don.

"Only Vanessa can stay." Tim told them.

"What. Dad, you've known me longer. How come she gets to stay?" Will complained, pretending to be hurt.

"She's cuter." Tim said simply.

Will glanced at Vanessa who was grinning broadly at him.

He looked at Jess next. "It's true." she told him.

Lastly, he looked at Don who was holding back a smile.

"Traitors," he teased.

________________________________________________________________________

A couple of hours later, everyone had showered and dressed and the rest of Jess's brothers had arrived.

Tim Jr., aka TJ was the oldest of the five. At 39, he was a tall man with broad shoulders. His dark brown hair was cut short, and his deep brown eyes resembled Jess's. He came along with his wife, Tina who had short blond hair and hazel eyes. The couple had two sons, James, who was 13, and Sean, who was 11.

Next was Kevin who looked very much like their father, with light brown hair and dark eyes. He along with his wife Kim brought their 9 year old son Nick.

And finally there was Paul. He looked almost identical to Will, except his hair was cut short. He was married to his wife, Anna, who was spending Thanksgiving with her family in Ohio along with their 5 year old son, Jackson.

"So, Don. Is it hell living with Jess?" Kevin asked him.

Don and Jess's brothers were all sitting in the den, while the kids were off with Nikki and Jess, and Tim continued his cooking, with the aid of Tina and Kim.

Don chuckled at the question. "No, it's actually pretty nice." he told them.

"That's hard to believe." Kevin muttered.

"So, what do you think of the Angell clan so far?" Paul asked, taking a sip of his beer.

Don laughed before answering. "Not what I expected. I thought you guys were all gonna give me the "I'll kill you if you hurt my sister speech.""

TJ shook his head. "We figured you're a detective so that was already understood. Besides, Jessie isn't your typical sister. She's the kind of sister that makes us have to give you the "If you hurt my sister, _she'll _kill you speech."" He told them, causing the room to break out in laughter.

"That is so true." Don said in between laughs.

A voice broke through the laughter and they all looked up to see Nikki standing in the doorway.

"Dinner is just about ready so everyone can come into the dining room." she informed them. "Oh and Will, go and find Jessie. I'm not sure where she wondered off to." she told him before turning to leave.

Will nodded and headed upstairs to look for Jess while the rest of the guys made their way into the dining room.

He wandered down the hall and into her old bedroom where, much like he expected, she was sitting on the edge of the window, looking down at the back yard.

"Jelly?" he asked softly.

Jess jumped at the sound of his voice. "Oh, hey Will."

He slowly made his way closer to her and leaned against the wall next to the window.

"Mom said dinner was just about ready."

Jess nodded but continued staring out of the window.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." she answered rather quickly.

Will sighed and ran a hand over his head. "Does he know?"

Jess paused for a moment, silently wishing he hadn't asked her. "No." she answered softly.

"Dammit Jess, you gotta tell him." he told her.

"Why?"

"Cause if he loves you as much as I think he does, then he has the right to know." he said.

"What good will it do, huh? It was a long time ago Will. I hardly think about it anymore. All he's gonna do is feel sorry for me and I don't want that." she replied, growing annoyed.

"What good will it do? For one, it will help him understand you better. And maybe he can make it less painful of a memory for you." he said.

When she didn't answer, Will sighed and headed out of the room. He stopped at the doorway and looked back at her. "Just think about it Jess." he said softly before leaving her alone in the room.

Jess sighed, knowing he was right. Don did deserve to know what happened but she just didn't know how to tell him.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N – **Hello all. I know you hated the cliffhanger so here I am with chapter 26. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer **– I don't own CSI NY. Or do I………okay, no I really don't.

________________________________________________________________________

After she came downstairs and joined the rest of her family, Jess almost forgot about the conversation that she and Will had had earlier. Almost.

The day had been going great for the Angell clan. Don and Vanessa had felt right at home with her family. Vanessa had abandoned her and Don and begun developing a good friend ship with James and Sean.

Now at the dinner table, everyone was together laughing, and enjoying themselves. With Tim at one end of the table and Nikki at the other, the rest of the family was dispersed in no type of order, though Jess made sure she was next to Don.

"Bean, would you past the gravy?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at Will, curious at whom he was addressing.

"Who are you talking to Will?" Tina asked, confused.

Will pointed at Don with a grin on his face. "I was talking to Don."

"Why are you calling him Bean?" Kim questioned.

"Since Jess is Jelly, Don can be Bean. Hence, Jellybean." he told them.

Everyone at the table chuckled, even Nikki who normally was annoyed at Will's antics.

"Why do you call Jess, Jelly?" Vanessa asked from her seat next to Will.

"Well, you see," he started but was interrupted by Jess.

"Shut up Will," she threatened him before turning to Vanessa. "It's not really important." she said, hoping to avoid the conversation.

"Yeah right." Kevin said. "You see Don, or Bean, when Jess was little she was the pickiest eater you would ever imagine." he told them

"She hated eating any vegetables, meats, and starches." Paul added.

Don looked at Jess with a grin. "What did you eat?"

"Jelly." T.J. answered.

"Jelly?" Vanessa asked.

"Grape, to be exact." Will said, quite enjoying embarrassing his sister. "Jess would not eat anything unless you added a spoonful of jelly to it. It didn't matter what it was, but it had to have jelly on it. This lasted until she was in high school. That's why I call her Jelly." Will finished.

Vanessa erupted into a fit of giggles, while a look realization washed over Don's face. "Is that why you hate jelly now?"

Jess frowned. "The thought of eating it now just makes me sick."

Don laughed out loud at his girlfriend as she turned slightly red.

"Aww, little Jelly is embarrassed." Will teased.

"Well, you know Will, I got a couple of things on you too." she fired back.

"Well, Jelly, I don't have anyone for you to tell them to."

"When you get a girlfriend, or should I say if you get a girlfriend, I will love telling her everything."

Will stuck his tongue out at her before turning back to his plate.

Jess looked up at Don who was smiling back at her.

"What?" she asked.

"I love you." he told her softly, before turning back to his conversation with Tina.

_That's what makes it harder _she thought to herself before turning back to her family.

________________________________________________________________________

"I am literally about to blow up." Vanessa said, slumped over on the couch, rubbing her stomach. She and Sean had made a bet about who could eat the most. Even though she had won, she was beginning to regret it.

"All you need is a little sleep. You'll be ready for breakfast in the morning." Tim told her.

After dinner, and a little more hanging out, everyone one had begun to get tired. Kevin and Kim, and T.J. and Tina, all left with their sons, making Jess and Don promise to visit again, sooner rather than later.

Eventually Nikki went up to bed, leaving Tim, Will, Don, Jess and Vanessa left in the living room.

"I'm with you Vanessa." Jess said, leaning against Don, who laughed at her.

"I can't believe you're full. To be honest, I could probably eat all over again."

Jess rolled her eyes. "Why is it that guys never get full?"

"That's just the way we are." Will told her.

"Well, I don't know about you young people, but I'm beat." Tim said before standing and saying goodnight to everyone.

"I guess I'll go too." Will said, standing. "What time are you guys leaving in the morning?"

"Probably around ten or so." Don told him. He knew he had to work the late shift tomorrow and wanted to leave enough time to get ready.

"We'll, maybe I'll stop by before then." he said.

Will said his goodnights before heading out of the house, leaving Don, Jess, and Vanessa alone.

"You tired squirt?" Don asked.

"No." Vanessa said, even though eyes were closed and her head was resting comfortably on the arm of the sofa opposite from the one that he and Jess were on.

"Are you sure, because you look a little tired." he questioned.

"I'm not tired…" she started but trailed off, completely falling asleep.

Don chuckled before moving to get up. "I'll be right back." he promised before taking Vanessa upstairs.

Jess watched as he went up the stairs. She got up from the couch with a sigh, and made her way into the kitchen. She went into the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of water, but couldn't drink it. Will's words came back to her.

"_Cause if he loves you as much as I think he does, then he has the right to know."_

Jess knew he had to tell Don. Sooner rather than later. The longer she waited, the harder it would be.

"Just do it." she muttered to herself.

"Just do what?" Don questioned, walking into the kitchen, startling Jess. "I'm sorry." he said with a small grin.

She gave him a small smile as he pulled her close to him as he leaned against the counter. He bent his head and placed his lips onto hers, kissing her passionately. After pulling back, he smiled, at how flustered she had become.

"You okay?" he joked.

"Ha, ha." she replied, before pulling back.

"Are you alright?" he asked, noticing how her demeanor changed.

Jess paused, realizing that now was a better time that any. "Don, I have to tell you something." she said quietly.

Don eyed her suspiciously, not sure of what she was going to say. "What is it?"

Jess opened her mouth to start but just couldn't find the words. "I can't so this." she muttered, turning around, placing her hands on the counter as if holding on for support.

She heard Don move to come closer behind her. "Just stop Don." she told him without turning around.

"Jess, what's going on? You're starting to scare me." he said, his voiced plagued with worry.

"Don, just let me say everything before you say anything, okay?" she asked.

"Okay, I won't, but will you at least look at me?" he questioned.

"I can't." she said softly.

Jess took in a breath before beginning. "When I was thirteen, I got to stay home by myself. It was the first time I had ever been home alone. Having four brothers doesn't leave the house empty often." she said with a small chuckle, before continuing.

"Mom and Dad, both had to work late. T.J. had baseball practice, Kevin had football, and Paul and Will were at a friend's house. I remember the first thing I did was sneak and get some ice cream." she went on, laughing at the memory, while it was still a good one.

"So after a while, there was a knock at the door. My parents always taught us not to open the door for strangers, but it was our mailman, Chuck, so I opened it."

"_Hey there little Jessica." Chuck said with a huge smile. "How's it goin?"_

"_Good." Jess replied with a smile._

"_Well, I gotta package for ya Dad. Is he around?"_

"_Nope." Jess said shaking her head. "He had to work the late shift today._

"_What about your mom."_

_Once again, Jess shook her head. "Nope. She had a meeting at her school. I'm home alone."_

_Chuck's eyebrows raised at her statement. "Oh really."_

"I was so stupid Don. I basically told him that I was alone and would be for the next few hours."

Behind her, Don was beginning to tense, for he had an idea of were this story was going.

"So then he asks me if he can come inside. He said the package was too heavy for me and he wanted to set it in the kitchen for my dad." she said, her voice beginning to shake. "He came in, and set it on the counter. But he didn't leave."

_Chuck looked around the large house. "Wow, this is a pretty big house. It's really cool."_

_Jess nodded, growing curious at why he wasn't leaving. She eyed him suspiciously as he moved towards the steps, eyeing the upstairs. "Wanna give me a tour?"_

"That's when I started to get scared. I told him that he should go but he didn't"

At this point, Jess was sobbing lightly, having trouble continuing. Don wanted to rush to her, and pull her close but he couldn't move. His hands clenched the edge of the counter, becoming white because of the grip.

"Next thing I know, he grabbed me and practically dragged up the stairs. He found my parents room and threw me on the bed. Then he raped me, Don."

After that she lost it, not being able to control her crying. She slowly turned around, looking at Don for the first time. It was then she saw something she never expected.

Detective Don Flack, homicide detective, tough guy of the city, was crying. Not full on sobbing, but a tear fell from his eyes and rolled down his face.

Jess turned back around left the kitchen, heading for the front door. She walked outside in the cold November air, not worrying about a jacket.

She felt horrible at that moment. Here there were, having a great time with her family, and she had to go and ruin the moment. Their relationship would never be the same after this moment and she wished she hadn't said anything.

Wiping her eyes, she shivered as she heard footsteps come up behind her. She turned around and barely had time to register what was happening before Don had enveloped her into his arms, holding her tight.

Jess relaxed in his arms, crying lightly in his shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay." Don whispered.

Jess pulled back and looked up into his bright blue eyes. "Just promise you won't start treating me differently." she asked, taking a seat of the front steps.

Don took a seat beside her, staring out onto the empty street. "I won't Jess. I just wish I could have been there."

"You would have only been fourteen, Don." she told him.

"I know, but if I could get my hands…"

"Trust me. Everything that could have been done, was done. My father spent almost everyday for the next four moths, trying to hunt him down. Turns out that I wasn't the first victim but he knew that my dad was a cop and decided to leave the city. My father never really got over it, Don. It hurt him so badly because he protected the city everyday but couldn't protect me from what happened. All my brothers were so angry that they probably would have killed Chuck if they ever found him. Let's just say I never stayed home alone again."

Don let out a long sigh. "Look Jess, I'm really sorry about what happened. You know that. I just wish I could make it better for you in some way but I don't know how."

"You already have Don. You already have."


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N – **So I feel like such a loser but I just realized that you can see how many hits your story has had. I've got a whole bunch so thanks to anyone who is apart of that. Feel free to give reviews. There always welcome. So, here is chapter 27. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer **– Roses are red, violets are blue. I don't own CSI NY, but neither do you.

________________________________________________________________________

Don sat in the kitchen early the next morning after a long night of unsuccessful attempts to go to sleep. After everything that Jess had told him, his mind had been going a mile a minute. He still couldn't believe everything she had told him. It was the kind of thing that he just thought would never happen to anyone he knew.

He had made sure that she was still asleep before he left, knowing that she needed the rest. Sighing, he stared down at the now cold cup of coffee. The clock told him that is was just approaching six. He knew that being up so early would make working the late shift that evening even harder.

He contemplated going back upstairs and trying to get another hour of sleep in but decided against it.

"You're up early."

Don jumped at the voice, turning to see Tim entering the room.

"Sorry." Tim said with a grin, before moving to get his own coffee. "So, what has you up before the roosters?" he asked.

Don gave the man a small smile before answering. "Couldn't sleep. Thinkin too much I guess."

Tim eyed the younger man, his police instincts telling him there was more to the story.

"You alright, Don?" he asked,

"Yeah." he said, trying to make it sound believable, but failing miserably.

There was a moment of silence, both men pondering what the other was thinking.

Tim let out a long sigh. "She told you didn't she." he said more as a statement than a question.

"Yeah" Don said quietly.

He regretted telling Tim once he saw the looked of sadness and anger wash over his face. Tim walked over and sat on the barstool next to Don, carrying the hot cup of coffee.

"Look Don, I don't want you to do the same thing that I did."

Don looked over at him in question. "What do you mean?"

"After it happened, I felt so guilty. I mean, here I was, this detective sergeant, and I couldn't keep one sick pervert off of my own daughter. I spent every single day searching for the bastard. I figured if I caught him, I would feel less guilty, and I would make Jessie feel better." he paused, trying not to let the emotions get the best of him. "But you know what I realized Don. All that time I spent trying to find him, didn't make her feel better at all. It only made me feel better. All she needed was someone there to be with her, you know. Our relationship was never the same after that. I became way too overprotective. Its gotten better over the years but it was never like before."

Tim turned completely to look at Don, his eyes intense. "Don't do that to her Don. Don't treat her like a victim. What the two of you have is too special."

Don looked at the older man, completely understanding what he was telling him. Don knew that he shouldn't feel guilty about anything but having Tim tell him made it easier to grasp. "I won't."

Tim patted Don on the shoulder. "I know you won't. Just make sure she knows that."

________________________________________________________________________

Jess rolled over in the bed, trying to fall back asleep, but she just couldn't. She had only got an hour of sleep, the whole night, her mind moving too fast for her to be able to fall asleep. She felt Don get out of bed around 5:30 that morning. She had pretended to be asleep, realizing that he needed time to take everything in.

She just prayed that it wouldn't be too much. She knew this made their relationship different, no matter how much he would try to forget about. Jess wondered if she should have even told him.

Sitting up, she realized it didn't matter anymore, because it was already done. She just hoped that they would be able to get past it.

Jess got out of bed and made her way out of the room. She headed towards the stairs but stopped at the door to her old room.

She slowly pushed it open and peeked inside. Vanessa was curled up comfortably in the twin bed that sat against the wall in the far corner of the room. Jess leaned on the doorway, smiling down at the sleeping child.

She heard someone approach her, turning to see Tim approaching her.

"Hey Dad." she said softly, before turning back to Vanessa.

Tim came to stand behind her, following her line of vision. "She's beautiful Jessie." he told her.

Jess smiled, resting her head on the doorway. "How does she do it?"

"Do what?"

"Put the past in the past. I mean, before Don adopted her, life wasn't easy you know. She didn't have anyone. And now, it's like she's been a normal kid all her life. Like she's been with Don forever."

"Well Jessie," Tim began. "That's the way kids are. She hasn't forgotten what her life was like. She just knows that the key word is _was. _Yes her life _was _hard, but she knows that she's got a family that loves her very much. You know we all do, and from what I hear, so does Don's family."

Jess nodded, knowing that that was true.

"You gotta realize that what happened to you will always hurt. It will always be a painful memory." he paused for a minute, knowing that everything he was saying was in part for his own benefit. "For all of us. But you can't let that mess with you and Don. It will be hard, especially since you will probably be reminded of it everyday, because of what you do. But, in the end, love conquers everything."

Jess turned around and looked at her father. She knew everything he had just said was true. She and Don could get past everything and move on. "Thanks Dad." she said softly.

"Just call me Dr. Phil." he joked, lighting the mood.

Jess chuckled at her father. "Whatever you say Doctor." she teased.

Tim smiled at his daughter, before pointing down the stairs. "Now go downstairs and talk to that man." he told her.

"Yes sir." she said with a grin, before heading downstairs.

She walked into the kitchen, noticing Don sitting on the barstool. She slowly made her way behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt him relax in her arms, something that made her smile. She pecked his cheek before taking a seat next to him.

"You alright?" she asked him.

"I will be." he told her with a smile. "Look Jess, I can't say that it's not gonna change anything, because it will. But I just want you to know that I don't look any different. Its not you, it the guy who did it. I just wish I could…"

"But you can't." she said, interrupting. "Trust me, all that could have been done to find him has been done. I don't need you to the detective. Just be my boyfriend, okay?"

"I guess I can do that."

________________________________________________________________________

"Can't you stay a little longer?"

"Sorry Mom, but Don has to work tonight and I work tomorrow." Jess told her mother.

She, Don, and Vanessa were getting ready to head back to the city. Nikki and Tim, along with Will, who came to see them off, all stood in the driveway in front of the house.

"Well what about Vanessa. She doesn't have to work." Nikki said.

Jess smiled at her mother. She had really grown attached to Vanessa and she knew that she was having a hard time seeing her go.

"We'll come back soon Mrs. Angell." Don said with a smile, until he noticed her frowning at him. "I mean Nikki."

Will went to hug Jess and Vanessa before heading to Don. "Take care of her Bean." he said. Even though his humor, Don could see that he knew that Jess had told him. He saw the look of seriousness in the man's eyes, a deeper meaning in his statement.

"I will." he said with a nod of his head, showing that he understood completely.

Will watched as the trio packed up, said their final goodbyes, and drove down the street. He smiled to himself. _You did good Jelly. He's a keeper._

________________________________________________________________________

"There you are Don."

Don looked up from his desk to see Stella approach him. "Hey Stell. You got anything on from that trace in the victim's clothes." he asked, referring to their latest case.

"Uh, no. Hawkes is still processing them. But I do have something on the fire at Vanessa's school."

Don's eyebrows rose at her statement. "Really?"

"Yup. Turns out that the secretary that Danny and Angell had talked to earlier was having an affair with the principal." she told him.

"Wow. Didn't see that coming."

"Neither did we. But it turns out that his wife knew about it and wasn't too happy."

"So wait, _she _set the secretary's desk on fire."

"Bingo. She even admitted it once we brought her in." Stella told him.

"Well, thanks a lot Stell. I mean it." he said.

Stella smiled at him before perching herself on the end of his desk. "So, how'd it go at the Angell's?" she asked, laughing at her own question.

"It was nice. There definitely an interesting bunch." he said, with a grin.

"I gotta say Don, I never would have pictured you to be family man. At least not so soon."

"To be honest, I wouldn't have either." he admitted.

Stella laughed as she got off of the desk and made her way out of the precinct.

"Well, next you know, we'll be going to your wedding." she said before heading out.

Don chuckled for a moment before really taking in what she said.

There were days were he was ready to pop the question to Jess. But then there were days when he didn't think he was ready. He was comfortable with the way things were and he didn't know if we wanted to change that.

________________________________________________________________________

"Why are there so many people here?" Vanessa asked.

"It's Black Friday. The day where every single person in the world decides to go shopping for someone stupid reason." Jess replied.

"And we're one of those people?"

Jess chuckled as she and Vanessa made their through the crowded department store. "I guess so."

Because the city went crazy around the holidays, Jess didn't really have lot of off time. She figured that now was as good as time as any to start on her Christmas shopping.

"So, what do want Santa to bring you this year?" Jess asked.

"No such thing."

Jess chuckled as she browsed through the ties in the men's department. "How can you be so sure?"

Vanessa shrugged. "Cause if there really is a Santa he must not know the way to the orphanage."

Jess stopped browsing and let out a sigh. She felt like an ass for bringing it up. She realized that this was probably her first real Christmas.

"I'm sorry Ness. But hey, there may not be a Santa but you me and your Dad this year. I bet you'll get something nice." she told her.

Vanessa smiled before turning back to the ties. "Why are we looking at these anyway?"

Jess stopped looking and shrugged. "I have no idea. Wanna go somewhere else?"

Vanessa nodded and the two began to head towards the exit, walking through the jewelry section.

She noticed when Jess slowed down, her eyes focusing on something in one of the display cases. Vanessa followed her line of vision to a certain piece of jewelry in the case. She smiled as she glance between Jess and the case, the older woman not noticing that she was practically entranced by the item.

"Jess."

Jess jumped slightly, not realizing that she was zoning out. "You ready?"

"Yup." Vanessa said, smiling to herself. She was gonna make sure that she and her Dad made a trip back to that store.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N – **So I'm back with a gift. The next chapter. YAAAAY!!! I hope you all enjoy. Please review. They are highly appreciated. Here's chapter 28. HAPPY READING!!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY. But I do own a hula hoop so take that **Montana Angell**.

________________________________________________________________________

The next couple of weeks flew by fast for the Flack-Angell household. Don and Jess found themselves struggling to find time when they could both be together when crime seemed to have escalated, like it always did around the holidays.

Either one was working the day shift and one the night shift. They would only see each other for a few minutes at home before the other had to leave. Sometimes they both would have the same shift, but then it would seem they would rarely cross paths. Every so often, they would be on the same case together but Don didn't consider chasing suspects and questioning witnesses as spending quality time together.

About two weeks before Christmas however, they both managed to have the day off. Don had to admit, he was really looking forward to spending the lazy day with his girlfriend. He didn't care what they did.

He slowly opened his eyes, smiling at the sight of her sleeping figure across from him. She had been working ten hour shifts so he knew she needed all the rest she could get.

After placing a kiss on the top of her head, Don slowly got out of bed, trying not to disturb her. This was short-lived however when she stirred and opened her eyes.

Don grinned sheepishly down at her. "Sorry."

Jess shrugged, stretching her arms over her head. "Don't worry about it. I need to get up anyway."

"No ya don't Jess. I know you're tired. Let me just go drop Ness of at school. Maybe we'll catch a late breakfast or something." he offered.

"Wow. Who knew Don Flack could be such a generous person." she joked.

"Hey, I'm the nicest guy there is." he paused, watching as Jess raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, how about the nicest guy in the NYPD."

Jess shook her head. "No, I think that title goes to Hawkes or Adam."

Don faked being hurt before pressing on. "Well, how about I'm about the best looking guy on the force."

Jess shrugged her shoulders. "Once again, that title may go to Hawkes. Or Danny."

"Well, I don't see you with them so I guess that makes me the luckiest guy."

Jess chuckled at him. "Smooth." she said as she started to get out of bed.

"Jess, I told you, ya need to get your rest. You know you wanna go back to sleep."

Jess sighed before giving in. "Fine." she said, falling back on the bed.

Don chuckled as he walked around to her side. He leaned over a placed a small kiss on her lips. He was beginning to lean back up but her hand on the back of his head stopped him. He deepened the kiss, beginning to get lost in the moment.

Don slowly backed away to find her grinning up at him. "You're still not allowed to get up."

Jess rolled her eyes. "I guess I need to work on my "distraction by sexuality" strategy a little more." she said.

"Yup. I'll be back." he told her, before heading towards the door.

"You better." she grumbled, rolling back over.

Don smiled at her once more before he headed out to the kitchen. Vanessa was already at the table with a bowl of cereal, barely eating it because she was engrossed in a book she was reading.

The tutor that she had had really peaked her interest in novels. She practically dragged Don to the library one day where she checked out stack of books. She became really interested in mystery novels, something that his mother said she got from living with two detectives. However, Don was thankful that the biggest problems in her books were who stole the class pet instead of whole killed the teacher.

"Ness, I know your book is good, but you got to put it down so you can finish eating." he told her after greeting her with a kiss on top of her head.

Vanessa groaned but did as she was told. "It just got good, though. I mean all of the dogs in the neighborhood have gone missing and they just found a muddy paw print on the neighbor's porch." she said in between spoonfuls. "Now, I can tell that the author wants us to think that's it's the grouchy old man who lives in the neighborhood, but he doesn't have a motive. All the evidence points to the weird skater kid who lives on the corner. I know it's him."

Don laughed at loud as he poured himself of coffee. "You sound like your mother."

Vanessa's head shot up at his comment. "What?"

Don turned around, confused at her reaction. 'I said, you sound like Jess." he told, obviously not realizing what he said before. "I'm gonna go get dressed real quick. Hurry up so we won't be late." he said, before heading back towards the bedroom.

Vanessa remained her seat, a small smirk on her face. _He said mother_ she thought to herself.

________________________________________________________________________

Jess got out of bed not long after Don left, a lot on her mind. Their whole lifestyle seemed so domesticated. She felt like a mother and wife and she had to be honest with herself. It kind of scared her in a way. Sure she had always wanted children and a husband of her own one day, but now that it seemed like it could happen in the near future, she began to second guess everything. She loved being in a relationship with Don, and she loved him, but she didn't know if she was ready to go that far.

Seeing that engagement ring in the mall the other day increased those fears. Sure it was a beautiful, square cut, diamond ring with a silver band that twisted around in loops. She thought it was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. _Wait, what are you thinking Jess. First you aren't ready and now you're practically drooling over the ring. Make up your mind dammit._ Jess laughed out loud at herself. Here she was having a full conversation with herself.

She slowly made her way into the kitchen, running a hand through her tousled hair, all while trying to push the thoughts out of her mind.. She reached the kitchen and began pouring herself a cup of coffee.

She froze when she heard the sound of keys jingling outside the doorway. The front door opened and she heard him walk towards the kitchen.

"That was quick. Did you drive really fast or are you guys back because you…" she trailed off after she turned around and realized that it wasn't Don who entered the room.

Jess immediately recognized the brunette who was staring back at her with an expression of both shock and amusement.

Samantha Flack looked at Jess, trying to hold back a grin as Jess frantically tried to figure out what to say.

"Hey." she spoke first with her thick New York accent, just like her brother's.

"Uh...Hi. I'm…"

"Jess, right?'

Jess nodded, surprised that she knew her by name.

Sam read her face and offered her a humorous smile. "The moment my mother finds out that one of her kids is dating, the word travels through the rest of the family like wildfire."

Jess gave her a small smile. "Yeah, my mom's the same way." she told her before looking down and realizing that she was only wearing one of Don's NYPD t-shirts.

"I think I'm gonna go change" she started, pointing towards the bedroom.

Sam nodded and chuckled as Jess quickly made her way to the bedroom. She opened on the drawers and hurriedly put on a pair of gray sweatpants. With a quick check of her self in the mirror, she slowly made her way back into the kitchen to find Sam seated at the kitchen table.

"So, can I get you any coffee or anything?" Jess offered, not really sure of what to talk about.

"No thanks. I hate the stuff."

Jess nodded, before taking a seat across from here. "So, I got to be honest. I didn't know you had a key."

"Oh, I don't. It's my mother's. She sent me her to see what size T.V. you guys had. I didn't expect for ya to be here." she admitted.

"Why did she want to know the size of the T.V.?"

"Well, she was thinkin' about getting you guys one for..." she trailed off, realizing she was giving away her mother's Christmas gift. "Ya know what, how about you forget I just said that."

"I didn't hear a thing." Jess said with a chuckle, before taking a sip of her coffee. She watched Sam chuckle along with her until the woman's expression changed to a much more somber one.

"Are you okay?" Jess asked concerned.

"Yeah. It's just now I remember why you look so familiar." she said softly.

Jess sighed, knowing exactly what the younger Flack was referring to. She wondered when their first meeting would come up in conversation.

"_So then I said, Chief, I quit." Detective Joseph Martinez said._

_Jess looked up in surprise from the passenger seat. "You're kidding."_

_Martinez gave her a broad grin before turning back to the road. "Yeah, I am. I just like to see you get worked up."_

_Before Jess could reply, a loud crash interrupted, causing both detectives to jump. She looked at the windshield, which was cracked with a brown liquid running down the front. She looked at her window to see two figures standing on the sidewalk._

_She gave a quick glance to Martinez who seemed to be fuming before they both got out of the car and approached to two figures._

"_Good afternoon officer." the man spoke first, his words slurring._

_Both detectives could tell that he was drunk. _

"_First of all, it's like eleven at night. And second of all, it's detective." Martinez spoke. _

"_Well, excuse me detective." the man said, placing extra emphasis on the word detective. "You see, me and my friend her were just playing."_

"_Yeah well, now you under arrest." Martinez commented._

_The man glared at Martinez before taking off running in the opposite direction. Martine glanced at Jess and rolled his eyes, before taking after the man. It's didn't take long to catch him, mainly because he was so drunk._

_Jess turned back to the woman who was laughing at her friend. "You wanna go with him?" she asked._

_The woman shook her head at Jess. "No, my brother would kill me. Hey, you might know him."_

"_I doubt it." Jess said, growing impatient._

"_Really. His name is Don Flack. He's a detective too."_

"I'm really sorry about that whole thing. It's kinda embarrassing ya know." Sam admitted.

Jess shook her head. "Don't worry about it."

Sam smiled at her. "Thanks." she said. "So, you and Donnie huh."

Jess shrugged. "Yeah. Although I've never call him Donnie before."

Sam chuckled. "Ya should. He hates it."

________________________________________________________________________

"So, have you thought about what you're gonna get Jess for Christmas?" Vanessa asked as the pair drove to her school.

Don shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Maybe a cd or two."

Vanessa looked at her father, not sure if he was joking or not. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Why?" he asked, glancing at her before turning back to the road.

"Dad, she's a girl. She doesn't want a cod. That's such a guy's answer."

"Hey." Don protested, pretending to be hurt. "I think cd's are a thoughtful gift."

"Yeah, for some girl who you work with but can barely remember her last name. You don't give a cd to the woman of you dreams." she told him, matter-of-factly.

"Oh really. And how do you know so much."

Vanessa shrugged, pointing to her head. "It's a natural gift I posses."

Don stopped at a red light and gave her a look that said _yeah right_.

"Or maybe I know what she wants because she told me." she said.

"Jess told you what she wanted." he asked.

"Well, maybe not directly, but I could tell she was thinkin about it."

"And what exactly was _it_?" he questioned as they pulled up to the school.

Vanessa dragged her fingers across her lips as if zipping them closed. She smiled brightly at him before getting out of the car.

Don rolled down the window as Vanessa approached it after walking around the car. "So your not gonna tell me."

Vanessa propped her elbows on the door. "Let's just say its silver and rhymes with ling."

"Ring?" he questioned.

Vanessa didn't say anything but instead turned around and headed towards the school.

Don watched as she walked away, their conversation still ringing in his head.

_She wants a ring?_

________________________________________________________________________

So let me know what you think about letting Sam become a member of our little ensemble cast we got going on.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N – **Okay, don't shoot! I'm back. And blame my lack of updating on the stupid school system. Whoever invented homework is a very bad person. ARGH!!

Okay, okay, enough of my ranting. Oh, one more quick thing. I was bored in my computer class so I scrolled over all my old reviews and I noticed I haven't heard from some people in a while. I hope you guys are still reading, just lurking somewhere. I hope I didn't disappoint you guys. Reviews are always appreciated. Anywho, here chapter 29. HAPPY READING!!!

**Disclaimer – ***Moves hands over crystal ball* Is owning CSI NY in my future? *Crystal ball suddenly disappears* I guess not.

________________________________________________________________________

Don arrived back home about ten minutes after dropping Vanessa off at school, a lot on his mind. A part of him wanted to believe that Vanessa was just making it up or trying to mess with him. At the same time, he wasn't really sure. He knew he loved Jess and if she was ready for that next step then he would understand. He just didn't know if _he_ was ready.

Why? He wasn't completely sure. Did he love her? Of course. Did he want to spend the rest of his life with her? Yes to that too. After thinking about all of those things, he forgot why he wasn't ready. Maybe he was.

Walking up to the door, he spotted a familiar brunette coming out.

"Sam?"

Sam looked up at Don, smiling as she made her way over to him to give him a hug.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was just in the neighborhood." She said simply.

"The neighborhood?" he questioned.

"Look, why I'm here isn't important. What is however, is a certain someone living in your apartment." She commented.

"Sam." He began, a warning tone in his voice.

"Don't worry Donnie. I was nice. She's really cool."

"What about…" he trailed off.

"It's not an issue anymore. Plus I've been sober for two months now." She told him, knowing what he was referring to.

Don smiled at his younger sister. "I'm proud of ya kid."

Sam returned the gesture. She was proud of herself too. It hadn't been easy but she was commented to changing and so far had done a good job of that.

"Thanks. I'm proud of you too. I mean, look at you. Got kids and stuff. Next you know you'll be getting married."

Don chuckled at his sister. "First of all Sam, its kid, not kids. Trust me, Vanessa ain't got no siblings coming anytime soon."

Sam nodded. "Okay, so that part was wrong but I can tell that you and Jess will be saying your vows eventually."

"We'll see." Don said simply

After seeing her off, he made his way back upstairs into the apartment. He opened the front door and could hear Jess's voice from the foyer.

"Look mother, I already told you, we're going to Don's parents...No, I'm not gonna be cooking…Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence."

Don chuckled to himself. When it came to simple meals, Jess did fine, but he knew that she was not one for Christmas dinner type meals.

He made his way into the kitchen, smiling as she noticed him walk in.

She returned the gesture, holding up her forefinger as if to say _one minute_.

Don nodded, moving towards the refrigerator. He groaned, noting how empty it was.

"Look, mother, I gotta go…Yes, I promise…I will…she's fine…Bye." Jess let out a long sigh.

"That sounded like a fun conversation." Don commented, from behind the refrigerator door.

Jess snorted, leaning against the counter. "Yeah, that's not the word I was going for but I guess it will do."

Don closed the door before walking over to Jess, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered with a nod, before a low grumbling sound filled the room. "Just a little hungry though."

Don chuckled, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Well, unless you want a ham and ketchup sandwich, I figured we could go out somewhere."

"I second that notion detective."

Don chuckled down at Jess. "You're somethin' else, ya know that."

Jess shrugged. "So, I've been told."

Don grinned down at her, her expression matching his.

"So, besides breakfast, what other plans did you have?" she asked.

"Nothing much. To be honest, I wouldn't mind sittin' in all day." He commented.

Before Jess could answer, there was a loud knock at the door.

Don gave her a curious glance before moving towards the door. He swung it open, surprised to see the person behind it.

"Hey, Bean," Will greeted excitedly.

He didn't wait for Don to respond before he walked into the apartment, nodding approvingly as he looked around.

"Hey Don, who was…Will," Jess exclaimed, surprised to see her brother in her apartment. "What are you doing here?" She asked, after enveloping him in a tight hug.

"I'm you're new neighbor." He told them.

"You moved next door?" Don asked in shock.

"Okay, well, I don't mean new neighbor as in I moved into the building. I mean it more like I now live about ten minutes away from here." He told them.

"You moved to the city?" Jess asked in disbelief.

"No, I mean I live ten minutes away but in a whole different city," he commented sarcastically, earning him a smack on the shoulder from Jess.

"When did you move?" Don asked.

"A couple of days ago." Will said with a shrug, moving to the living room and taking a seat on the sofa.

"What did Mom say?" Jess inquired as she and Don followed.

"I'll let you know."

Jess' jaw nearly hit the floor. "You didn't tell her. She's going to kill you." She practically yelled.

"Well I guess it's good that my sister and her boyfriend are both detectives. If I turn up dead, you guys already gotta suspect," he joked.

Don chuckled, as Jess looked in disbelief at her brother. "I can't believe you."

"Well, best believe it sista. You get to see me everyday. Whoa." Will teased her, propping his feet up on the coffee table.

Jess couldn't help but laugh at her brother antics. Will could definitely be annoying at times, but she did love that he was now closer.

"So wait," Don started. "Why exactly did you move?"

"My job had this offer to be project manager at one of the sites here in the city. It's gonna take a couple of years to work on so the move was pretty much permanent. I love Jersey but I figured a change would be fun."

Will worked as an architect with a local firm back in Jersey. Even though he would never admit to, Will was very smart. Math was always a strongpoint for him. He could do calculations in his head faster than Jess ever could do, even with a calculator.

"That's great Will." Jess congratulated.

Will shrugged, settling more into the couch. "I know." He said simply.

Jess rolled her eyes at her brother. "Just so you know when Mom finds out, you're on your own buddy."

"That's okay. Once she sees the cruise tickets I got her and Dad for Christmas, she'll forget."

For second time, Jess's jaw nearly hit the floor. "You got them a cruise?"

"Yup. Once again, the award for best gift goes to yours truly." He boasted.

"Great. That's gonna make my new DVD player look like crap." She complained with a groan.

"Jess, when will you ever learn that you just can't compete with the Will? He's too amazing." Will told her.

"Would you please stop talking about yourself in third person? You know I hate that." Jess asked in annoyance.

"This is why I do it."

________________________________________________________________________

Vanessa walked out of the school building, heading towards her father's car that sat next to the curb.

"Hola, father." She greeted as she climbed into the car.

"Brushing up on your Spanish there, Ness?" he asked, as he pulled away and merged into the traffic.

"A girl's gotta have her hidden talents." She joked.

Don chuckled, making a left. "So, I figured we could stop to pick up something for dinner, since we don't have any food in the apartment.'

"I thought you and Jess were gonna go grocery shopping today. Oh, wait. Let me guess. You guys got sidetracked with all that gross kissing stuff."

"For you information Ms. Smarty Pants, Will moved to New York so we spent the day helping him move into his apartment."

"Why did he move to New York?"

"He got a job offer in the city." Don told her.

"Is that it?" she questioned.

"Yeah, why?"

"I have a feeling there more to his story," she stated.

"And why do think that?" Don asked, amused.

"It's just a hunch. He's got another motive for moving here." She informed him.

"Too many mystery novels, Ness." He told her, as he pulled up in front of there building.

As they got out of the car, Don offered to take her backpack for her, but she declined. "Don't worry about. I don't want you to hurt your back or anything."

"Why would I hurt my back?"

"Because you're getting old." She answered as they made there way up the steps.

Don pretended to be hurt as they walked down to their door. "What makes you think that?"

Vanessa shrugged. "Because you're forgetting things already," she stated, fighting back a grin.

"And what exactly have I forgotten." He asked, opening the front door.

"That we were supposed to pick up dinner since there isn't anymore food in the house."

She laughed out loud as Don shoulders dropped and he turned around to head back out.

"Old man." She joked before heading into the apartment to tell Jess about everything.

________________________________________________________________________

Don left the apartment and drove down the street, heading towards their favorite take out spot. He was about to turn right when a certain store caught his attention.

In a spur of the moment decision, he changed the direction of the car.

He pulled up into the only available space that was happened to be directly in front of the store.

He sat in the car for a moment, trying to mentally prepare himself. He sighed one last time before getting out of the car and making his way into the store.

"Can I help you?" the woman at the counter asked.

Don hesitated for a moment trying to find the right words.

Finally gaining enough courage, he spoke to the awaiting saleswoman.

"I'm looking for an engagement ring."


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N – **So I've got you guys another chapter. Spring break just started so I will probably be able to update a lot quicker. Or at least I hope so. So here's chapter 30. (Wow, I never imagined getting this far.) HAPPY READING!!!

**Disclaimer – **Thouist don'tith ownith CSI NYith. Sorry. We're reading Shakespeare in English so I guess the whole language thing is rubbing off.

________________________________________________________________________

Don and Jess walked out of the restaurant, hand in hand. The cool December wind created a chill in the air. They pair walked for a while longer until they ended up in Central Park. The park was decorated with lights for the holiday.

"Thanks for the date Don. It was so nice."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad we could both manage the night off."

"Me too. Plus we have to thank your parents for taking Vanessa so last minute."

"They would take her all the time if they could." Don said with a shrug.

Jess chuckled as Don wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. "Yeah, well, we still owe them."

"I guess you right," Don said in agreement. "What if we gave them a daughter-in-law?"

"A daughter-in-law? How would we give them a …oh" Jess trailed off, just understanding what he meant.

She looked up at Don, as he removed his arm and reached into his pocket.

"Oh my God," she breathed out as she saw the black velvet box.

"Look, Jess. I love you more than anything. I want to be with you for the rest of my life," he said before kneeling down on one knee. "Will you marry me?"

He watched as she began to frown. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Is that it? I'm the woman of your dreams and all you can say is that you love me and that you want to spend the rest of your life with me. How original."

Don looked up at her, confusion washing over his face. "What?"

She groaned. "I said Dad."

Don confusion grew. "Jess, what are you talking about."

"Dad…Dad," she said again, except this time she sounded like Vanessa.

"Vanessa?" he asked.

Suddenly, Jess began to disappear and he was surrounded by blackness.

"Earth to Father Flack, do you read me?"

Don opened his eyes to find Vanessa leaning over him, waving her hands in his face.

"Vanessa?" he asked again.

"Yeah, remember me. They say I'm your daughter."

Don finally was able to see clearly. He was lying in his bed. The whole proposal thing had been a dream. Or rather a nightmare.

He sat up and glanced at Vanessa who was waiting patiently next to his bed.

"What time is it?" he asked groggily, still trying to recover from his nightmare. It seemed so real. From the meal they shared to her angry reply to his proposal.

"It's 8:15," she answered.

"What, Ness. Now you're gonna be late to school," he replied, moving to get out of bed.

"It's winter break remember. Christmas is in like two days." She said with a sigh.

Don groaned, mentally kicking himself for forgetting. Between work and Jess, his minds had been so busy. He forgot all about the fact that Vanessa school would be closed.

"Sorry, Ness. I completely forgot. I just got a lot on my mind."

"You mean to say you got Jess on your mind," she stated, moving to lie on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Don did the same so that they were lying next to each other. "Ya know squirt, you would make a great detective one day with that intuition of yours."

"I don't really think it's my intuition. I just think it your lack of knowing how to hide your Jess-look."

"My Jess-look? What is that?"

"It's that look you get whenever you think about her. Your eyes get all googly and stuff. It's really weird," she said with a chuckle.

"Yeah well, you'll understand when you fall in love."

Vanessa grimaced at his words. "Eww, don't joke like that. Boys are gross."

Don laughed, turning his head towards her. "Don't you ever forget that."

"Aw, well if this isn't a picture perfect moment, I don't know what is."

Don and Vanessa looked up to see Jess standing in the doorway, holding a coffee mug. "That's what I call a father daughter moment."

"Well, I had to wake father up from the little dream he was having."

"Dream huh. Was I in it?" she asked with a smirk.

"Oh, no, it was uh, I don't even remember actually," Don answered, a little too quickly.

Jess eyed him for a moment before moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "Well, your parents called. They said they couldn't take Vanessa today because they had to go to someone's wedding. Apparently it was last minute or something." she started.

Don's mind began to wander when she said the word wedding. Every time he thought about proposing, the image of his dream came back. He knew it wasn't real but he just couldn't shake it. Maybe it was a sign or something. Maybe buying that engagement ring the other day had been a mistake. Jess probably wasn't ready for that type of commintment. Hell, after that dream, he doubted that he was ready. He knew that he wouldn't be able to handle her saying no.

"Don…Don, did you hear me?"

Don looked at Jess to see her staring at him, a worried look on her face. He glanced at Vanessa who was mouthing the words _Jess-look, _before turning back to Jess.

"Huh?"

"I said, since we both have to work today, Will said Vanessa could hang out with him." Jess said. "Are you sure you're okay."

"Yeah I'm fine. Ness, why don't you go get ready so you can head over to Will's okay."

Vanessa slowly moved off the bed. "Aye Captain."

Don let out a small laugh as she skipped out of the room.

"Don,"

He looked over at Jess who had come to sit next to him. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, I'm fine Jess. Really." He said reassuringly.

"Okay. You just seem a little, distracted."

"I'm distracted by your beauty." He said with a smirk.

Jess rolled her eyes and fell back on the bed beside him.

"Is that some more of your game Don?"

"Hey, you said it was pretty good," he reminded her.

________________________________________________________________________

"Okay, so you remember the plan?" Will asked.

"Yup. You tell her and then I come in," Vanessa answered.

"Bingo,"

The two sat on the floor of Will's living room, which was mostly full of boxes. They had used one as a table of sorts. After enjoying a lunch of pizza and soda, they moved on to the plan that Will had developed.

"Okay, it's ringing," he stated, holding the phone up to his ear.

"_Hello,"_

"Hey Ma,"

"_Oh, William dear. How are you?"_

"Just dandy. Look Ma, I gotta tell you something," he said.

"_What is it darling?"_

"Well, you see, I moved to New York last week." He said slowly.

"_YOU WHAT!" she yelled. "What were you thinking William? I can't believe you just left like that. I swear, you're just like your father sometimes,"_

"Hey Ma, hold on,' Will interrupted. "Someone wants to talk you," he said before handing the phone to Vanessa.

"Hi Mrs. Angell," she said sweetly, using what Will had dubbed as her "sweetie voice."

Will watched as Vanessa listen to what his mother told her.

Vanessa removed the phone from her ear and handed it back to Will.

"What did she say?" he asked, holding his hand over the receiver.

"She said that you should be ashamed of yourself for trying to use me to distract her from why she is mad at you. She also said that she wants to talk to you but she wants you to go into another room so I won't have to hear her mean voice." Vanessa explained with smirk on her face. "I told you it wouldn't work," she added.

Will just stuck his tongue out at her, a gesture which she returned.

He chuckled as he got up off of the floor and moved towards his bedroom like his mother had ordered.

Vanessa just laughed and shook her head. _Boys _she thought to herself.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. She moved towards it to open it before remembering one of her father's rules. "Never open the door for strangers," she said out loud, altering her voice to sound like Don's. "Will, someone's at the door," she yelled out.

"Answer it," he called back.

"My Dad said I'm not allowed to answer it for strangers," she replied.

"It's not a stranger, trust me," he yelled back.

Vanessa shrugged and moved towards the door. She pulled it opened, surprised to see the person on the other side.

"Stella?"

Stella smiled at the young girl. "Hey Vanessa," she greeted kindly.

Vanessa stared at the older woman in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Just stopping by to make sure you guys are okay," she answered.

Vanessa was still confused at the woman's appearance. "Wait, how do you know Will…," she trailed off, as the realization of the situation hit her. "You're the real reason he moved to New York, aren't you?" she asked as she moved aside to let Stella enter the apartment.

"You know you would make a great detective one day," Stella pointed out.

"Maybe," she replied, closing the door. "So, how exactly did you two meet?"

"I was in the city on business a few months ago and I met her at this art show thingy and then I just couldn't shake her beautiful face out of my mind," Will said coming into the room. He glanced at Stella who was blushing at his compliment. "So, we kept in touch and then my job had the offer in New York. I volunteered before my boss even finished talking about the details."

He grinned at Stella as he moved closer to her, placing a small kiss on her lips.

"What is what you people and kissing," Vanessa complained with a groan.

"You'll understand one day," Will told her, taking a seat on the floor due to that lack of furniture, gesturing for Stella to do the same.

"So, did you know that Will was Jess' brother?" she asked Stella.

"When he said his last name was Angell and that his sister worked for the NYPD, I made the connection. Angell isn't the most common last name in the force." Stella explained.

"Does Dad or Jess know?"

"Nope," Will answered. "And don't tell them. I want to wait until the perfect moment okay,"

"Won't they realize when they come to pick me up and Stella just happens to be here too?" Vanessa asked matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I guess I didn't think about that," Will stated, causing Stella and Vanessa to chuckle.

"You know Vanessa, you would probably be an awesome detective one day," he told her

"So I've heard."


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N – **Hello all. I'm back with another chapter quicker than usual so yaaay. Oh, and regarding the whole Will/Stella thing, I know that no one saw that coming. To be honest, I didn't plan it until I was writing the chapter. Though I do enjoy the occasional Smacked story, the idea just popped into my brain so I decided to run with. I don't even know where it will go so we'll just have to wait and see. But anyway, here's chapter 31. HAPPY READING!!!

**Disclaimer – **I don't own CSI NY because if I did then those spoilers wouldn't exist.

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Don Flack Jr. was not having a good day. Maybe it was because the heater in the precinct wasn't working properly which left the whole building freezing cold. Or maybe it was the fact that he had to chase a suspect for ten blocks throughout the crowded city. Or maybe it was because the suspect had abused a young girl around Vanessa's age which always seemed personal for him now that he had a daughter. Or maybe, just maybe, it was because while everyone around him seemed so sure of their relationships, he on the other hand wasn't.

Well whatever the reason, he was relieved when his shift finally ended. After gathering up all the files and paperwork and stacking them neatly in the corner of his desk, he grabbed his overcoat and headed out the exit. He had just made it down the stairs when he heard his name being called.

He turned around to see Jess walking down the steps, smiling at him as she made her way over to him. She didn't grab her coat so she had her arms wrapped around her body.

"You headin' home?" She asked him.

"Yeah. I was gonna pick up Ness," he told her

Jess seemed to notice how he seemed a bit distant. "You okay?"

Don just nodded in reply.

"Are you sure? I mean you seem a bit…"

"I'm fine Jess," he interrupted, sounding a little harsher than intended.

Jess was a little taken back by his reaction. She took a few steps back from where she stood. "Fine," she said simply before turning around and heading back towards the door.

Don sighed as he watched her go. "Jess," he called out.

She stopped and turned around. Anyone else would say that she looked fine but he could see through the act she was trying to put on, because of him.

'I'm sorry,"

"Don't worry about it," she said simply before disappearing into the building.

Don muttered some cursed words before getting into his car. She hadn't done anything but care about him and he had to go and act like a complete ass.

Starting the car, another thought entered his mind. He planned to just go to Will's but decided that he needed to make another stop first.

________________________________________________________________________

Donald Flack Sr. had just taken out the trash when a familiar car pulled up in his driveway.

He gave a small wave as his son turned off the car and got out.

"Hey Donnie," he greeted.

"Hey Dad,"

Don Sr. didn't know if it was because he was a detective for as long as he was or if it was because he was just a good father but the moment Don opened his mouth, he could that something was wrong.

"Come on," he ordered his son as he led the way through house.

When they reached the den, Don Sr. took a seat in his favorite recliner while Don settled in a spot on the sofa.

"So, tell me what's going on," the older Flack prompted.

Don sighed and leaned his head back on the sofa. He knew that he had to talk to someone and his father was the first person that came to mind.

"I don't know Dad. I mean love Jess so much, ya know. It's like she's apart of me now. But when I think about moving to the next step, I get kinda worried. Like maybe I'm moving to fast or maybe she's not there yet."

"Donnie, there is no such thing as too fast when you're in love as much as I know you and Jess are," he explained. "If you love her and you can see her being your wife and Vanessa's mother,"

"And that's the other thing," Don interrupted. "If she marries me then she automatically inherits Vanessa. I know we've talked about it but that's just it. I don't know if she's there yet."

Don Sr. sighed as he watched his son tear himself up. _Young people _he thought. "Look Donnie, did Jess move in with you?"

Don looked at his father curiously. "Yeah, Dad. You aren't losing you memory are you?"

"Ha, ha. I'm saying that the moment Jess moved in with you, she took in Vanessa as one of her own. And stop saying inherit. Vanessa isn't an item. She's your daughter. And Jess is your girlfriend. If she accepted moving in with you knowing that you had a daughter, then I don't think becoming her mother like figure is really an issue, Don."

Don listened to what his father was telling him. He knew deep down inside that he was right. "Then why do I freak out every time I think about proposing to her?"

"Because you're scared," Don Sr. said flatly. "You keep using Jess and Vanessa as excuses but you're the real problem. Look Donnie, it's simple. If you want to marry Jess then ask her."

Don looked at his father, letting his words soak in.

"You know what you have to do right?"

Don nodded, standing up from the couch. "Thanks, Dad," he said, patting his father's shoulder before heading out of the door.

He headed towards the car pulling out his phone and dialing a certain number.

"Hello,"

"Hey Will, it's Don," he said as he got into his car.

"Hola Bean. What can I do for ya?"

"Would you mind keeping Vanessa a little bit longer? I kinda got to make a little stop."

"No problem. Are you okay?" Will asked.

For the first time that entire day, Don smiled. "Perfect."

After finishing his conversation with Will, Don started the car and headed into the direction of his destination. The clock on the dashboard read 3:27. If he drove fast enough, he could make it there before dark.

And that was exactly what he did.

He pulled into the driveway of the familiar house a little after 5 o'clock. He was surprised he didn't get a speeding ticket.

He got out of the car and made his way up the long walkway of the house. Not long after he rang the doorbell, a familiar face opened the door.

"Oh my goodness. Don, I didn't know you were coming today."

"To be honest with you Mrs. Angell, I didn't know until a couple of hours ago," he said honestly, accepting the hug she gave him.

"Well, I'm glad you here. Please, come in," she told him, leading him into the house. "And what did I tell you about calling me Mrs. Angell."

"Sorry, Nikki," he corrected himself.

"Better," she said with a bright smile.

Just then, Tim appeared from the hallway. "Don, what a surprise. What are you doin' in my neck of the woods."

Don smiled at the older man. "Well, I have to ask you, well, the both of you a quick question."

Tim smiled knowingly at the younger man. "About time."

Jess finally made it home around eleven o'clock that night. While she was happy that she had the next few days off, she couldn't help but think about her conversation with Don earlier. She kept trying to think of something that she did that could have upset him but nothing came to mind.

She opened the door to the apartment to find it completely dark, which surprised because Don was supposed to be home. She expected to find him watching TV or something.

"Hello," she called out.

She walked through the apartment quickly realizing that it was empty. She picked up the phone and dialed Don's cell phone number.

Jess sighed when she got his voicemail. She called the next person who might have a clue to where he was.

"Hello,"

"Hey, Will. Did Don come to pick up Vanessa yet?"

"Hey Jelly. Nope, he said he had to go somewhere and asked if I could keep here a little bit longer."

"Really? When did he say that?" she asked curiously.

"This afternoon,"

Jess finished her conversation with Will, even more confused than before. In fact, she was a little angry that he didn't at least leave a note or least text her so she wouldn't be freaking out like she was starting to at that moment. She wondered what kind errand he had to run that would take him that long. Her wondering however ended when she heard the sound of the door opening.

Don made his way into the kitchen to find Jess standing there with her arms crossed.

"Look Don, I get that you're a little upset about something but could you at least let me know when you run off for hours to who knows where,"

"Jess, I…"

"I mean seriously Don, didn't you think that I would be a little worried about what happened. I mean I come here to find no one home. I mean it's after eleven. I figured you would have been back by now. Wait, where were you?"

"Jersey," he answered.

"Jersey!" she exclaimed. "You drove all the way to Jersey. What the hell were you doing there?"

"I needed to talk to your parents."

Jess looked at Don as if he had tow heads. "My parents?" Why, would you need…"

"Jess!" he said rather loudly, getting her full attention. "Would you just let me talk?"

Jess just nodded and leaned up against the counter. "I'm waiting," she said, still annoyed.

Don let out a long sigh and ran his hands over his face. "Look Jess, I know you're mad and you have every right to be. I went to Jersey because I needed to ask your parents a question that should only be done in person."

Jess eyed him curiously. "What question?"

"I needed their blessing."

Jess's heart nearly hit the floor when the realization of the situation. "Oh," was all she managed to say. She could feel the tears begin to form in her eyes when she saw Don reach into his pocket and pull out the black velvet box.

"Look Jess, I don't have any long sweet speech for you, okay. All I have is the fact that I know that I can't live without you. I mean, even when were apart, it's like, I can't get you out of my head and for a long time that scared me. But now, I realize that I would rather do that than not be with you at all," he paused, moving a little closer. "I know that our relationship isn't the most normal one out there but it's ours and I wouldn't have it any other way. You and Vanessa are the most important things in my life and I want you to know that that is never gonna change."

He slowly bent down on one knee and opened the box, reviling the most beautiful ring Jess had ever seen. It wasn't the same one as before but she loved it even more.

"Jess, will you marry me?"

At this point, Jess was full on sobbing. She brought a hand over her mouth and began to cry a little harder. "Yes," she said in between sobs.

"Yes?" he asked, making sure he heard her right.

Not being able to manage anymore words Jess just nodded, a smile creeping on her face as Don slid the ring on her finger.

The moment he stood up, Jess was in his arms, showing no sign of letting go.

"I love you Don," she said into his shoulder.

"I love you too, Jess."

________________________________________________________________________

Now tell me this: How many of you are saying that it's about time.


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N – **I'm sooooooooo soooooorrrrryyyy for taking like forever to update. School has been crazy but I'm almost done so whew. Anywho, I come bearing some Flack family fluff (say that five times fast). Here's chappie 32. HAPPY READING!

**Disclaimer - **Okay, so I used to own CSI NY but then one day I dropped it and Jerry Bruckheimer picked it up. When I asked for it back he said finder's keepers, losers weepers. So now I don't own it anymore.

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Jess woke up the next morning with the brightest smile on her face. She glanced down at the ring on her finger, needing confirmation that what she thought happened the night before actually happened. She still couldn't believe it.

She lay in bed, an arm draped over her waist. It belonged to the man that she was madly in love with. The man that she was going to marry. Her fiancé. She had a fiancé. She was getting married. She couldn't help the small laugh that came out of her mouth at the thought.

"Something funny?" Don asked sleepily.

Jess turned around to face him, smiling as she saw that his eyes were still closed. She leaned over and placed a loving kiss on his lips, one that he was happy to return.

Don's eyes opened slowly, meeting hers.

"Thank you," he told her softly.

"For what?"

"Saying yes," he replied.

Jess looked at him curiously. "You thought I would say no?"

"To be honest, I really didn't know Jess. I mean we never really talked about it. Plus, you do realize that you're not just marrying me, right?"

"Excuse me?" she asked confused.

"I mean, this is a package deal. One eleven year old included."

Jess smiled brightly at the mention of Vanessa. "Don, I love Vanessa like she was my own, alright."

"She is," he told her softly.

"Huh?"

"Vanessa is just as much your daughter as she is mine."

"Thanks Don. That means a lot," Jess said with a smile.

"Your welcome future Mrs. Flack."

A large smile came upon Jess' face as she suddenly sat up.

"What?" Don questioned, doing the same.

"Future Mrs. Flack, huh?"

"You like it?" Don asked with a smirk.

"Mrs. Flack. Mrs. Jessica Flack, Mr. and Mrs. Flack. Detective Jessica Flack," Jess began reciting each choice in a different voice, causing Don to laugh out loud.

"Find one you like?" he asked.

"Doesn't matter to me," she told him before leaning over towards him, placing another kiss on his lips.

Don smiled against her lips just as a knock sounded at the door.

He let out a groan as he climbed out of bed, throwing on a t-shirt to go with the gray sweatpants he wore.

He made his way out of the bedroom and down the hallway, coming to the front door. He opened it to reveal Will and Vanessa standing on the other side.

"Hey squirt," he said, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Hey," she replied before moving into the apartment.

"Did you have fun?"

"Oh yeah, we all had lots of fun," Vanessa said, glancing at Will as she placed extra emphasis on the word _we._

Will sent a glare in her direction, causing her to giggle.

"Am I missing something here?" Don asked curiously.

"Oh nothing, noting at all," Will said quickly.

"Well, thanks a lot Will. I really appreciate it," Don told him.

"Don't worry about it."

Just then, Jess appeared in the doorway beside Don.

"Hey Ness," she greeted before turning towards her brother. "Hey Will."

"How ya doin' Jelly?" he asked

"Perfect," she said, looking directly at Don.

Will rolled his eyes at the couple's obvious display of affection. "Well, not that this isn't fun or anything, but I gotta run some last minute errands, so I guess I'll see you two lovebirds tomorrow."

"What were your Christmas day plans anyway?" Jess asked curiously.

"Uh, I figured I'd stop by here at some point during the day," he answered.

"You should come by my parents for dinner," Don suggested.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, my mother would love the company. Plus, she's gonna make more than enough food."

"Maybe I will. Thanks Bean," he said before heading down the hallway.

Don closed the door and turned around the find Jess standing with a hand on her hips and a look of disbelief on her face.

"What?" he asked her.

"I practically waved my hand in his face and he didn't even notice," she complained.

"He's a guy," Don told her, as he put his arms around his waist and pulled her close to him. "We don't notice things."

Jess laughed as she leaned in to place a soft kiss on her lips.

"Seriously guys? I think we need to have a family meeting or something about this whole kissing thing," Vanessa complained, coming from the living room.

Don and Jess slowly pulled apart, both trying to hold the grins threatening to take over their faces.

"Don you need some breakfast, Ness?" Don asked as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Nope, I had pancakes at Will's," she answered.

"Pancakes?" Jess questioned. "Since when did Will know how to make pancakes?"

"Oh, he didn't make them," Vanessa said.

"Well then who did?" Don asked curiously.

Vanessa opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she realized what she was doing. Will had asked her to keep the fact that he and Stella were dating a secret until they decided to let them know.

"We ordered them. At a diner," she replied quickly.

Don eyed her carefully, having the feeling that there was more to the story.

Vanessa noticed and quickly made a move to change the subject.

"So, how was you guys' evening?" she asked casually.

Don and Jess glanced at one another, both silently asking the same question. When Jess smiled brightly, Don turned back to Vanessa and took a seat across the table at her.

"Hey Ness, we gotta talk to you about something," he said.

Vanessa's bright green eyes darted between Jess and Don suspiciously. "Am I in trouble or something?"

"No, not at all," Jess replied, taking the seat next to her. "We just wanted to talk to you about us."

"Us?"

"Yeah, like the three of us," Jess added.

"Um, okay." Vanessa answered, having no idea of what they were talking about.

"Okay, listen Ness. Sometimes, when two people are in love…"

"Please tell me this is not the sex talk," she interrupted.

Don simply looked horrified as Jess began to laugh. "Not sweetie, this isn't the sex talk. What you're father is trying to say is that when two people are in love, they decide to take their relationship to the next level."

"Such as?"

"Such as marriage," she answered.

Vanessa's jaw nearly hit the floor when she heard what Jess said. Her eyes found their way to Jess's ring finger.

"You proposed?" she exclaimed, glancing at Don.

"Yeah," he answered, still trying to overcome the fact that the word sex was already in his eleven year old daughter's vocabulary.

Vanessa's head quickly turned towards Jess. "And you said yes?"

Jess gave her an enthusiastic nod, holding up her left hand.

Vanessa turned back to Don. "So, you're like gonna get married?"

"Yeah."

She looked back at Jess. "And you're gonna be like Jess Flack?"

"Yup."

Suddenly, Vanessa looked down at her hands, fidgeting with her fingers. "So, if you're a Flack now, um, are kinda like, you know?" she asked Jess, not knowing how to phrase the question.

Jess smiled, understanding exactly what she was trying to ask. "Yeah, I am."

________________________________________________________________________

Vanessa Caitlin Flack had never really understood the Christmas tradition. When it came to the biblical side of the holiday, she was fine. Living in a Catholic orphanage for the first eleven years of your life would do that to you. But when it came to the typical Christmas morning events, she had no idea what to expect.

Before, when it came to gifts, all she would get would be whatever was donated to the orphanage. If you got lucky, you could maybe get a bike that actually had air in the tires or a doll that came with clothes. But overtime, Vanessa learned how to just except that she would never have a Christmas like the kids did on T.V.

So when her father would tell her that she would love it, she believed him, yet didn't really expect much of anything. She lay in her bed that Christmas morning, trying to get of the curiosity that was currently taking over her mind. Normally, when she got the opportunity to sleep in, she would.

Sighing, she gave in. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She slowly opened the door to her bedroom and made her way towards the living room where the small Christmas tree that she and Jess had picked out was placed.

When she got all the way into the room, her eyes widened in shock. When she went to bed that night, there were only a few gifts under the tree, but as she stood there that morning, there were so many boxes that she could barely count them. The whole living room was full of gifts, all bearing her name.

Her first instinct was to run over and start unwrapping, but she froze mid-step. Instead she turned towards the hallway and headed in the direction of the master bedroom.

She reached the door and slowly pushed it opened. She glanced at the two sleeping figures, lying peacefully in the bed.

When Don adopted her, she was ecstatic. She finally was given the opportunity to have a family. She had grandparents, and an aunt and uncle. But she had always thought that having a mom would be cool. She looked at Jess' sleeping figure and realized that she had one. She moved towards the bed and climbed over her father and lay in between them, her head resting on one of the extra pillows.

That's was when Vanessa understood that no matter what was in the boxes, she had already received the best gift a kid could ask for. Parents.

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Okay, it's a little short but I promise more to come soon!


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N – **Okay, I know you guys are probably like where has this girl been? But I'm happy to announce that I have one week of school left (because I'm a senior. Go class of 2009). So hopefully these long periods are over. So anyway, to try to make it up to you, I come bearing another happy chapter (well, sort of). HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **Okay, if own CSI NY, raise you're hand. *raises hand in the air* *notices Jerry Bruckheimer and company doing the same.* *slowly puts hand back down* Just kiddin'.

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In Don's opinion, Christmas so far had been perfect. He heard Vanessa come into the room and climb in the bed that morning. He lay still for a minute, curious to what she was going to do. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw that she had drifted back to sleep peacefully.

The three of them laid there for a while, before getting up to open presents. While Vanessa became wrapped up in playing the new Nintendo Wii that Don and Jess picked out, Don discreetly placed a small box in Jess' lap.

Jess glanced curiously at Don who was simply watching Vanessa with a smirk on his face. She chuckled as she glanced back down at the box. She removed the neatly wrapped wrapping paper to reveal a small blue velvet box. She smiled, immediately recognizing where it cam from. She slowly opened the box to reveal a beautiful pair of diamond earrings. A gasp made its way out of Jess' mouth as she stared down at them, marveled in their beauty and simplicity.

"Don," she muttered, her voice full of surprise. "Don, you shouldn't have…"

"I wanted to," he said with a smile.

"There beautiful. Thank you," she said, leaning over to kiss him.

Don put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "There's something else," he told her. "Hey Nessa, pause the game for a minute and grab that box over there," he said pointing to a medium sized box that set nestled under the tree.

Vanessa retrieved the box that her father was referring to and brought it to the sofa. "Who's it for?"

"The both of you," Don he said with grin.

Vanessa glanced at Jess looking to see if she knew what it was. Jess shrugged, indicating that she didn't. "Go ahead and open it Ness."

Vanessa removed the ribbon going around the box before taking off the top. She reached inside and pulled out a file full of papers. She held them up and looked at her father. "You got us paper?"

"Look at the papers Ness."

She opened up the file to reveal the stack of papers inside.

"Read the top of the first one out loud," he prompted.

Vanessa looked at the words closely, sounding them out in her head.

"Application for Legal Adoption," she read aloud.

Jess' head shot in Don's direction in both surprise and confusion. "What?"

Don smiled brightly at her, satisfied with his gift. "All it takes is a couple of signatures and then it's official."

"What's official?" Vanessa asked, not fully understanding. She figured she was already adopted so she didn't understand why there would be more forms.

"Right now Ness, you technically only have one parent. Once Jess signs the papers, you'll have two," he explained, his eyes never leaving Jess's.

Jess was at a lost for words. She didn't know what to say. She had always figured they would do this eventually but she never imagined it happening anytime soon. She looked up at Vanessa who was smiling brightly at her.

Jess felt the tears begin to form in her eyes. She looked back at Don. "Thank you," he said quietly.

"I should be thanking you Jess," he replied softly.

He leaned over to place a tender kiss on her lips.

"Wait just a minute," Vanessa's voice broke through his movements. "Now before you two get all lovey dovey and what not, let me give you guys my gift."

Don raised his eyebrows while Jess wiped her eyes. "We already gave Jess our gift Ness," Don said.

"Well as a matter of fact, I got you guys something on my own."

She went under the tree to get a small box and handed it to Jess. "Open it," she said with a bright smile. Jess moved to pull off the paper before Vanessa spoke again. "Wait!" she exclaimed before running towards the kitchen.

Jess looked over at Don who simply shrugged, not knowing where she was going. Just then, Jess started to laugh out loud.

"What?" he asked.

"I just realized that your gift is gonna make mine look like crap."

"No it won't," he reassured her with a smile.

Vanessa ran back into the room a moment later, holding a pen.

She sat on the sofa in between Don and Jess and pulled the gift into her lap. She looked at the gift tag stuck to the box that read 'To: Jess and Dad'. She took the cap of the pen and leaned over to write on the gift tag. When she was finished, she handed it back to Jess.

Jess looked down and felt herself tear up again when she saw what Vanessa changed. The tag now read 'To: Mom and Dad'. She scratched out the Jess' name and replaced it with Mom.

Jess smiled brightly and pulled Vanessa into a tight hug. "Thank you sweetheart."

"Your welcome. Now you gotta open it."

Jess did as she was told and opened the gift to reveal a picture frame. The outside of the frame had the words 'Family' written on it. The picture was one of the three of them at in Central Park. Jess had held the camera out, trying to get all three of them in the shot. She managed but all three of their faces were squished together, bright smiles on everyone's face.

Jess smiled down at the frame. It was the perfect way to describe them: a family.

___________________________________________________________

"What do you think she's gonna say?" Jess asked.

She and Vanessa stood outside the door of Don's parent's house. They went ahead to ring the doorbell while Don gathered all of the presents from the car.

Vanessa laughed out loud at the thought of her grandmother's reaction to Jess and Don's engagement.

"Well first, you guys are gonna be all like, we're getting married. Then she's going to scream. Or better yet, let's say shriek. After that, she's gonna pick up your hand and look at the ring. Next, she's gonna hit Dad on the shoulder, saying that it's about time he asked you. Then she's gonna go on and on about how you're perfect for him. Then she's gonna remember me and be all like, you're perfect for me too. Last, she's probably gonna start crying," Vanessa answered.

"How do you know that?"

Vanessa pointed to her head with her forefinger. "Intuition," she replied simply.

"What about your intuition?" Don asked, coming to stand behind them.

"It's always spot on," she said.

Don laughed to himself just as the front door opened revealing his mother with a bright smile on his face.

"Oh, come in, come in. Oh, I'm so happy you guys are here," she greeted

She quickly ushered them into the house, taking the gifts from Don. "Oh thank you Donnie."

He smiled down at his mother before looking at Jess who had a nervous look on her face. Christine picked up on it too.

"Are you okay Jessie?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

"Uh, yeah I'm fine," she answered, looking at Don for help.

He just chuckled before moving to stand beside Jess. "Look Ma, we gotta tell you something."

"What is it?"

He looked down at Jess with a bright smile. "We're getting married."

A loud shrilling shriek came from Christine's mouth as she brought her hand to her heart in surprise. "Oh my goodness. Oh let me see, let me see." She picked up Jess' left hand and examined the ring carefully. "Oh, wow, it's so beautiful," she commented to Don. "About time you proposed," she said, slapping Don on the shoulder.

"Ow," he said jokingly.

"Oh I'm just so happy. You're perfect for him Jessie. You guys are meant to be. Aw, it's so sweet," she went on happily before remembering something. "Oh and Vanessa. How could I forget? You're perfect for her too. It's like you're just on big happy…" she trailed off, her tears starting to form. "Oh excuse me, I'm just so happy. I gotta go call everyone."

Christine made her way towards the kitchen, still sobbing in her hand. Jess watched her go, her mouth wide in shock.

"I'm gonna go check on her," Don said, following his mother.

Jess just nodded before looking towards Vanessa who stood with a small smirk on her face.

"You're good."

"I know," Vanessa said, heading towards the kitchen. She stopped and turned back to Jess. "Oh, and if you think that was bad, just wait till Dad tells her about the whole adoption thing."

Jess chuckled to herself. She figured Christine would get just as excited about that. She looked to the sound of someone coming down the stairs.

"Hey Sam," she greeted.

"Hey. What was goin' on? I heard Ma, screaming like a crazy person," she asked.

Jess smirked as she held up her left hand. Sam's eyes widened as she saw the ring on Jess' finger. She let out a shriek similar to her mother's.

"He finally did it," she exclaimed.

"Yup," Jess confirmed.

Sam smiled as she glanced at the ring, taking in its beauty. "Not bad Donnie," she yelled.

"Shut it, Sam," he called back, causing both women to chuckle.

"Well, congrats Sis," Sam prompted.

Jess smiled at the younger woman. "You know, I've always wanted a sister. Having four brothers can get a little old."

"Four? And I thought two was bad."

"Just wait to you meet my brother Will. You'll see that he was bad enough by himself."

"He can't be worse than golden boy Donnie," she replied.

Jess thought for a minute. "Probably not.

Sam and Jess moved their conversation into the kitchen with Vanessa along with Christine who was beginning dinner. When Jess told her that she and Don had invited Will over, Christine had been elated. Don's brother Andrew and his wife decided to spend Christmas with her family in Maine. They normally alternated where they spent the holidays. They did however promise to call and speak to everyone.

While the woman where in the kitchen, Don and his father stayed in the den.

"So, Dad, make sure you clear your schedule once hockey season starts," Don said.

"Why?"

"Cause Jess got me seasons tickets to all the Ranger home games."

Don Sr. looked at his son in surprise. "Are you serious? Now that's a sign that she's a keeper."

Don laughed at his father. "I guess so."

Don's cell phone suddenly began to ring. He groaned, praying that it wasn't from the station requesting him to go in. He wasn't on call but sometimes that didn't matter.

"Flack."

"Hey Bean."

Don sighed of relief when he realized it was Will on the phone. "Hey buddy, how's it going?"

"Good man. Hey look, I'm on your street. What house was it again?"

"The number is 1906. Third one on your right," he informed him.

"Cool. Oh, and is it okay if I brought a friend along?" he asked.

"Uh sure, the more the merrier," he answered.

Don ended his conversation before heading towards the door. Jess saw him head in that direction and excused herself to follow him.

"Hey," she said, getting his attention.

Don smiled and pulled her into an embrace, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Will is almost here."

"Cool."

"And he said he's bringing a friend."

Jess pulled back confused. "A friend? What friend could he possibly have? I mean he just moved to the city," she paused for a minute before frowning. "I bet it's a girl. I swear if he brings some weird, skanky…"

"Gee Jess. Give him a break. She could be really nice."

Jess gave him a look that said 'Yeah right'.

Don chuckled just as someone knocked at the door. "Be nice," he ordered playfully.

He opened the door, surprised to see who was on the other side.

"Stella?"

Stella gave Don a bright smile while Will stood beside her, grinning brightly.

"Wait, so you're the friend?" he asked, still in shock.

Stella nodded while Will continued to grin, mostly at Jess who was still just staring in surprise. "Friend, girlfriend, same thing."

Finally, Jess snapped out of her trance. "I can't believe you two are dating."

"Why, she's beautiful, I'm beautiful. It just makes sense Jelly. Gee, some detective you are," Will teased.

Jessie ignored him and moved to link her arms with Stella, pulling her into the house. "I gotta say Stell, I always pictured you as brave. But I didn't realize you were this brave."

Stella chuckled as she looked back at Will who was laughing with Don. She turned back to Jess, her smile never leaving her face. "He's worth it."

________________________________________________________________________

After greetings were done all around, the extended family sat around the large dining room table to enjoy the delicious food and the wonderful company. Everyone at the table was content with being with people they loved and all wished that they could all be together again.

What they didn't know however is that they would all be back together again in the near future, however that moment wouldn't be as joyful. In fact, it will be the very opposite.

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Dun, dun dunnnn. Foreshadowing, maybe?


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N – **WHAT! Two chapters in two days. That's a personal best. I wanted to treat you guys so here I am. HAPPY READING!!

**Disclaimer – **Okay so after 33 chapters, if anyone doesn't get that I don't own CSI NY, that's just sad.

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**One month later**

"Well ladies, I'm about to make your day a lot better."

Stella and Lindsay looked up from the evidence they were processing to see Jess walk in with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Tell me you got something good," Lindsay practically begged.

They were working the case of a woman, Kelly Abbott, who had been missing for about three weeks. The husband was sure that she had been kidnapped, prompting them to make the case a full investigation. However, they hadn't been having any luck with finding any evidence to suggest the whereabouts of the woman.

"So I finally got a call from the credit card company. They reported that her card was used at a small bed and breakfast in Vermont. I talked to a detective up there to see if he could check it out for me. He went and found Mrs. Abbott plus one more," she explained.

"One more?" Lindsay asked curiously.

"Let's just say that Mrs. Abbott and her secret lover have a little explaining to do once Mr. Abbott finds out."

Lindsay chuckled while Stella did her best to hide back a smirk. "Well, I guess this case is closed," she said.

Jess glanced down at her watch. "Looks like shift's over early today. Not much can be done in one hour."

Lindsay nodded in agreement. "I still have an hour before I have to pick up Emma from the daycare. That means a nice nap in an empty and quiet apartment."

Jess and Stella smiled at the mention of Lindsay's baby girl. After much deliberation, she and Danny finally decided on Emma Lydia Messer.

Lindsay said her goodbyes before heading out of the lab, leaving Stella and Jess alone.

"So, what are you gonna do with your rare moment on by your self time?" Stella asked.

"Well, Don's already off so it not's really by myself time," she told her.

"But I bet you like it that way anyway," Stella teased.

"Maybe," Jess said with a smile. "But what about you? Got any plans for the weekend?"

"Well, Will got tickets to see Rent on Broadway," she answered.

"Are you serious? You know Stella, ever since you and Will started dating, he seems to be getting classier and classier."

Stella shrugged as she leaned on the table. "Maybe. I have been trying to get him to cut his hair though. It would look so good if he wore it shorter."

Jess snorted at Stella's comment. "My mom's been trying to get him to cut it for years. If you pull it off, she'll love you for ever."

Stella laughed at Jess' description of her mother. "You and Will both make her sound so crazy."

"She is," Jess replied simply.

"I'm sure she can't be that bad."

"Just wait till you meet her. She's going love you and everything, but she's probably going to scare you too."

Stella paused for moment, taking in her comment. "You think Will's going to want me to meet her."

"Of course. If they lived in the city, you would have already met her," Jess told her truthfully.

"Thanks Jess," Stella said warmly just as Mac walked into the lab.

"Hey Angell," he greeted before turning towards Stella. "So Stella, since you closed your case, I was wondering if you're up for a new one."

"What is it?" she asked.

"DB over in an alley in Queens. Hawkes is already there but I figured he could use a hand," he told her.

"Uh sure. But Mac, how did you know that I closed the case? I mean it happened like literally less than five minutes ago," she asked curiously.

Mac just gave her a small smile before heading out of the lab.

Stella turned to Jess with a look of disbelief on her face. "How does he do that?"

"I don't know. It's Mac," Jess said with a shrug.

Stella nodded in understating. Sometimes with Mac, that was the only logical explanation there was.

_______________________________________________________________

Don sat in the car outside of the school waiting for Vanessa to come out. He arrived earlier than usual since he was off so the school hadn't officially let out yet.

His phone began to ring suddenly. He immediately hoped it wasn't for him to have to go in. He glanced at the caller ID and smiled when he recognized the number.

"Hey Jess," he greeted.

"Hey. You picking up Nessa?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said before glancing at the clock on the dashboard. "Aren't you supposed to be working?" he asked jokingly.

"What are you trying to say?"

Don laughed into the phone at her response. "I'm saying that as much as I enjoy talking to you, I don't want my amazingly sexy voice to distract you from your work."

It was Jess's turn to laugh into the phone. "Wow, Don. That wasn't self-centered at all," she said sarcastically. "No, we closed a case early so I'm on my way home."

"Alright. I guess I'll see you there."

"I guess you will," she told him.

"I love you Jess, "he said, his tone softer.

"I love you too Don," she replied.

Don smiled as he hung up the phone. He turned to look out his window but jumped slightly Vanessa standing by the window, grinning broadly.

He chuckled and motioned for her to get in the car. She walked around the front of the car to get into the passenger seat.

"I scared ya, didn't I?" she asked with a giggle as she buckled her seatbelt.

"No. I was just pretending," Don replied as he began to merge into traffic.

"Sure you were," she said with a smirk. "But anyways, I gotta ask you something."

"Go for it."

"Okay. So you know what hypothetical means, right?"

"Yup," he answered, unsure of her motives.

"So let's say that you had another daughter, hypothetical of course, and she hypothetically asked you to go on a hypothetical trip to a hypothetical city that kinda far from our hypothetical house. Oh, and it hypothetically costs a hypothetical two hundred and fifty dollars," she said in one breath.

Don paused for a minute, making sure he understood her. "Okay, it depends on where and when."

"Uh, over the summer, I think in August."

"What about the where?" he asked.

Vanessa hesitated for a moment before answering. "Washington D.C." she said slowly.

Don sighed as he glanced over at her as she sat poking out her bottom lip. "Look Ness, I don't know. I mean you're only eleven."

"I know, but by then I'll be twelve," she countered.

"Still Ness, that's a big trip and you'll still be young," he reasoned.

"But there are gonna be a whole bunch of chaperones and everything and it's only for one week."

"What kind of trip is this anyway?"

"Soccer Camp," she told him.

Don pondered the idea as he pulled in front of there building. The two got out and Vanessa grabbed her backpack from the backseat. "Please Dad. I'll promise to be good and everything."

Don put his arm around her shoulder as the two walked into the building and up the stairs. "It's not you I'm worried about Ness. Just let me think about it?"

Vanessa let out a defeated sigh. She figured that he was saying no. She fastened her pace up the steps, forcing Don to remove his arm from her shoulder.

Don sighed as she watched her walk ahead of him until she came to their door. She stood with her arms crossed as she leaned against the wall beside the door.

"So now you're mad at me?" Don asked as he put the key into the door.

"I just want to go Dad," she replied with a groan.

"Look Ness. I said I'll think about it alright," he told her sternly as he opened the door all the way.

Vanessa groaned she moved past him into the apartment. She dropped her backpack off and kicked off her shoes in the hallway and headed towards Don's bedroom. Jess was in the en suite bathroom with the door open, brushing her hair back into a ponytail.

Vanessa made her way into the room and climbed into her parents' bed, moving completely under the covers.

Jess smiled as she watched Vanessa, knowing that something was frustrating her. She sat her brush on the counter and headed towards the bed. She sat on the bed and crossed her legs.

"You wanna talk about?"

"Are you going to say no too?" Vanessa replied from under the covers, her voice muffled.

"Well, I don't even know what were talking about so I can't really say. It would help if you came out."

She heard Vanessa as she slowly poked her head out from under the covers.

"There's this one week soccer camp in D.C. over the summer," she explained.

"Ah, and you really want to go?"

Vanessa nodded.

Jess smiled and patted the space in front of her, motioning for her to sit down. Vanessa climbed out from under the covers and sat cross legged in front of Jess.

"Here, turn around," Jess prompted.

Vanessa did as she was told so that her back was to Jess. Jess leaned forwards and pulled out the ribbon that was holding Vanessa's hair up. Her long raven black hair fell down her back. Jess raked her hands through it before beginning to give her two large French braids.

"Look Ness, the only reason he doesn't want you to go is because he loves you too much and he doesn't want you to get hurt," she started.

"But I told him there were gonna be chaperones and stuff."

"I know, but sometimes he doesn't trust anyone else to protect you except for himself."

"And you?"

"Yeah, me too," Jess answered with a smile. "Look, I'll look at the forms and maybe I'll talk to him."

"And convince him to let me go?" Vanessa asked, her excitement growing.

"I'm no making any promises, okay. You're father can be really stubborn sometimes. But so can you," she pointed out.

Vanessa chuckled at the last part of Jess's statement, knowing it to be true. "I guess so. But I just really want to go."

"I understand Ness. But all I can say is we'll see. There, all finished," she said. "Now go get your father for me"

Vanessa smiled she turned around and gave Jess a peck on the cheek. "Thanks Mom," she told her.

"I didn't talk to him yet."

"I know. But he can't so no to you," she joked as she jumped off the bed and ran to get her father.

Don came in a minute later closing the door behind him and moving to lie on the bed. He laid his head in Jess's lap and closed his eyes.

"You guys have fun girl time?" he asked

"Yup. We spent it talking abut this boys at school she likes."

Don's eyes shot open but he closed them when he saw that she was joking. "That wasn't funny."

"Yeah it was. But what's up with this whole soccer camp thing. You don't think she can handle it?"

"I don't think _I_ can handle it," he corrected her. "I trust her but it's everyone else that I don't"

"Look Don, I know it's hard but we gotta let her grow up. We're cops alright. One quick phone call and we can make sure she's safe. Plus I gotta friend on the force there anyway. He owes me a favor."

Don glanced up at her. "He?"

Jess rolled her eyes. "Yes he. His daughter came to the city on a trip with her class. He was freaking out but his wife insisted that she go. He called me and asked me to keep a lookout so I did."

"And he can do the same?"

"Yup. And all it is is just making sure that chaperones all check out and everything. Noting too drastic."

Don sighed for a minute before looking up. "You're amazing, you know that."

"I know," she replied with a smile. She leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips.

"So does that mean I can go?" Vanessa exclaimed, opening the door. It was obvious that she stood on the other side of the door listening.

Don looked at Jess who was smiling before turning back towards Vanessa. "I guess so," he said.

Vanessa shrieked as she went to hug both her parents. "Be right back," she yelled as she ran out of the room.

"She eats way too much sugar," Don joked.

"You're the one who's always buying her skittles and snickers," Jess countered.

Vanessa came back into the room a moment later with a piece of paper in her hand. "This is the form to reserve my spot. You guys have to sign it."

Don and Jess each took a turn to sign it while Don filled out the rest of the form. "You gotta an envelope?"

Vanessa ran out of the room again, causing both Don and Jess to laugh. "You know if the whole soccer thing doesn't work out, there is always track," he joked.

Vanessa printed back into the room carrying an envelope. She watched as Don addressed it to the camp indicated on the form. He placed the form into the envelope and handed it to Vanessa. "You think you can run it down to the mailbox?"

"Yup," she replied, grabbing the envelope. She once again sprinted towards the front door and charged down the steps.

There was a mail box located right in front of their building. On more than one occasion, Don let Vanessa run down to put something inside of it.

She reached the front door of the building and pushed it open. She ran towards the mailbox, just as the mailman was gathering up all of the letters from inside.

"Wait," she called out.

The man turned around to see her. He was an older man with dirty blonde hair that was slowly receding. "What can I do for you sweetie?" he asked.

"I got a letter," she said handing it to him.

The man looked down at the envelope. "Wow, must be important."

"Yeah, soccer camp," she said proudly.

"Oh, that's nice. I'll make sure it gets there," he assured her.

"Thanks Mr.…" she trailed off, not knowing his name.

The man smiled down at her, revealing teeth that were stained from a combination of cigarettes and coffee.

"Chuck. You can just call me Chuck."

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Okay, donuts to anyone who made the connection. Hehe.

Oh, and I put a poll in my profile so don't forget to go and vote!


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N - **OKAY, SO I'M WRITING IN CAPS BECAUSE I FEEL REALLY BAD ABOUT NOT UPDATING IN LIKE OVER A MONTH. I'M REALLY SORRY ABOUT IT. BUT DON'T WORRY, I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT THIS STORY OR ANYHTING. I JUST GOT A NEW JOB SO I'M TRYING TO FIND TIME TO WRITE. Okay, enough with the caps. But I don want to apoligize to everyone. I hope you guys can forgive me.

Oh, and thanks to everyone who voted in the poll. Everyone got at least one vote except Don. Even little Vanessa. Anywho, thanks for that and here is chapter 35. HAPPY READING!!!

**Disclaimer - **I don't own CSI NY but I do own the fact that I tied for Best Flack/Angell fic in the 2009 Fanfiction Awards.

Which brings me to my next point. I just want to thank everyone so much for nominating me and voting for me. I also got second for best baby epic, and best Hawkes/OC story. It really means a lot so thank you. I love all you guys so much and I really appreciate it. I owe you all so much!!!

Okay, on with the story.

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"What about this one?"

Vanessa looked up from the book she was reading and glanced at the sample invitation in Jess' hand. "You're kidding, right?"

Jess looked back down at the invitation. "You don't like it?"

Vanessa took the invitation from Jess' hand and held it up. "You're getting married, not throwing you're sixtieth birthday party. This invitation says 'Hello, I'm old and boring'"

Jess laughed at her comment. "Since when did you become an expert in wedding invitations?"

"I'm not an expert. It's just that this one looks really bad," she said with a smirk.

Jess let out a frustrated groan as she tossed the invitation back on the coffee table. About a month after she and Don got engaged, she realized that she actually had to plan a wedding. She didn't have any idea on where to start until Stella suggested a wedding planner.

At first she was against the idea, especially after seeing the price but Don convinced her that it wouldn't be a problem, mainly because without a wedding planner, neither one of them would know where to start.

So, they met with a woman named Nina Williamson and began to plan out the whole affair. They both knew they wanted something simple yet nice. Nina suggested small chapel located right outside of the city. Don and Jess took the time to visit it and fell in love with the set up. They booked the date for early June and now Jess was supposed to pick from the invitations that Nina sent her.

"What about this one?" Jess asked. Before Vanessa could reply, Jess shook her head. "Never mind, it's too white."

Vanessa looked at Jess with a confused look on her face. Before she could say anything, the phone began to ring.

"Can you get that Ness?"

"Sure," she answered as she leaned over the arm of the sofa to grab the phone from the end table. She smiled when she recognized the number on the caller id. "Hello, you've reached Jo Beth's horse farm, how may I help you?" she said in a strong country accent. She could hear Don laugh on the other end.

"Jo Beth's horse farm?" he questioned after he managed to stop laughing.

"Well, there was some old western on TV earlier and the main character was named Jo Beth and she had a horse farm."

"You watch way too much TV Nessa," Don replied with a chuckle.

"I know," she responded. "But Dad, when are you coming home?"

She heard him sigh through the phone. "I don't know Ness, maybe a few more hours. You will probably be sleep though."

Vanessa let out a disappointed groan. "You were supposed to be home already, remember."

"I remember and I promise I'll be home as soon as I'm done, alright." He paused when Vanessa didn't respond. "Alright?"

"Alright," she said with a grumble.

Don chuckled again. Moments like those reminded him that even though she was adopted, Vanessa was a lot like him, especially when it came to her stubbornness. "What's Jess doin'?" he asked.

Vanessa glanced over at Jess who was still staring at the numerous invitations. "Let's just say she preoccupied with wedding tasks."

"Invitations, huh?"

"Yup," she said.

Don could still hear the sadness in her voice. The past week had been hectic for Don's work schedule. While Jess managed to be home most evenings, Don ended up working until after Vanessa was already in bed. If they were lucky, they could see each other in the morning, but it still didn't leave enough time to do anything together. "Listen squirt, if we could do anything together, what would you want to do?"

Vanessa thought for a minute as she laid her head on the arm of the sofa. "Um, I don't know."

"Well, you better hurry up and think of something," he told her.

"Why?" she questioned.

"Well, you never know when I'll sneak up on ya."

Vanessa frowned. "What are you talking about?" Her question was interrupted be the sound of the front door opening. She sat up and craned her neck to see Don walking through the front door, his phone held up to his ear.

She smiled brightly as she got up from her place on the couch to go over and meet him in the hallway.

"How ya doin' squirt?" he asked as she placed her arms around his waist.

"You tricked me," she replied with a grin.

Don shrugged as he looked down at her shorter figure. "I'm sneaky like that."

Vanessa giggled at his comment. As Don went to move further in the house, Vanessa didn't let go of his waist. He chuckled as he looked down at her. "You're not gonna let me go huh?"

"Nope."

Don smiled as he began to walk in the living room with Vanessa still clung to her waist. Her feet rested on top of his as he walked over to Jess who was still going over the invitations.

"Hey Jess," he greeted.

"Which one?" She held up two different invitations that in Don's opinion looked exactly the same.

"Uh, what's the difference?"

"This one is pearl white and this one is cotton white," she explained.

"Told ya," Vanessa joked as she moved off of Don and retook her seat on the other end of the couch.

Don chuckled as he sat in between them, scooting closer to Jess. "Babe, it doesn't matter to me. Plus, I don't think anyone is gonna notice the difference."

Jess let out a sigh as she placed them back on the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa. "I just want everything to be perfect."

He smiled as she leaned over to place a soft kiss on her cheek. "As long as I get to make you my wife, it will be."

Jess looked over at Don, rolling her eyes. "Okay, Mr. Suave."

He chuckled at her statement. "Of course."

Jess laughed as she leaned over to place a kiss on his lips. When she pulled back she smiled brightly at him. "Thank you," she whispered softly.

Don returned the gesture before turning to look at the invitations. "Look Jess, all these invitations are fine. Just pick the one that you like the best and call it a day."

She turned to look at the pile and picked up one. "This one. It was my first pick but I kept changing it."

Don smiled as took it from her. "See, that wasn't so hard."

"Easy for you to say; you weren't here for the first two hours of her going through them," Vanessa said with a smirk. "So Dad, where we goin'?"

"How about dinner, all three of us," he suggested.

"Okay. Can we go to a movie afterwards?" Vanessa asked hopefully.

Don gave her a knowing look. "You know it's a school night Ness, right?"

Vanessa shrugged as she got up from the couch and headed towards her bedroom. "Can't blame a girl from trying."

Don chuckled as she left the room as he laid his head back on the couch.

"Rough day?" Jess asked him, noticing how his demeanor changed slightly.

"Why do people feel that they need to hurt children?" he asked plainly.

Jess let out a long sigh. She understood that ever since becoming a father, Don found it harder to deal with cases involving kids. She too found it more difficult, especially when trying to explain what was happening to the parents. "Wanna talk about it?"

"A little girl was killed"

"Any leads?"

"Yeah, it was the mother's ex-boyfriend. We got him in custody. But it's not so much this case, it's every case. It's like, sometimes I feel that something could happen to Ness and I won't be able to do anything about it."

"Look Don," she started, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm not gonna sit here and say that Ness is a hundred percent safe, all the time, because no one is. But I know you know that you would do anything to protect her. And you better know that I would too. Between the two of us, I think we got a pretty good system going on here."

Don looked over at Jess with a small smirk. "I guess you're right."

"Aren't I always," she replied with small grin.

"I just don't get how someone could do it," he told her.

"How someone could do what?" Vanessa asked coming back into the room.

"Uh, forget to put the toilet seat down," he said simply.

"Ew," she remarked, bending down to tie her shoe. "You guys ready?"

"Yup," Jess answered, standing up from the couch. "Let me just get my…" she was cut off by the sound of her phone ringing.

"Ugh," Vanessa said with a groan, knowing what was going to happen.

Jess gave her an apologetic look as she answered. "Angell."

Vanessa turned to Don and shrugged her shoulders. "Why does this always happen to us?"

"That's part of our job Ness. We live in the city that never sleeps, ya know," he told her.

"Well, it should at least take a nap," she replied with a frown.

"Well, you guys better get a table for two," Jess said walking over to them. "That was Mac. A body was found…, never mind," she said, not wanting to go into any details in front of Vanessa. "He knew you just got back so he figured he'd call me."

"Look Jess, if you want to stay, I can go instead," Don offered.

Jess shook her head. "No, it's fine. You two go ahead."

Don nodded and stood up, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Give me five minutes to change Ness," he said as she headed towards his bedroom.

Jess followed him towards the room, closing the door behind her.

"Don?" she called out.

"Yeah?" he answered from the bathroom.

"Are you sure you still want to get married?" she asked him.

Don poked his head out of the bathroom. "What?"

Noticing the panicked look on his face, Jess couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry, I phrased the question wrong. I meant to say are you still want to have a big wedding. I mean, why can't we just go to Vegas and call it a day?"

Relief washed over Don's features as he walked out of the bedroom and took a seat on the bed. "Vegas?"

"Yeah. We can go to one of those Elvis chapels and then hit a casino to win big," she joked as she began putting on her shoes.

"Yeah, and when we get back, and our mother's find out, Mac will have to investigate our murders."

Jess laughed out loud as she heard someone knock at the door.

"Dad, someone's at the door," Vanessa yelled out.

"You can open in Ness," he called back. "Danny said he was gonna drop off some dvd's he borrowed," he told Jess. "But about this wedding thing, I thought you were excited."

"I am but it's just a lot more work than I thought it would be."

"Well, just remember that it will all be worth it in the end," he said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah. This more of your Mr. Suave act?"

"Is it working?" he asked.

The smile on her face told him that it was.

Jess stood up and excited the bedroom with Don right behind her.

"You ready Ness?" Don asked. He paused when he didn't her say anything. "Ness?" he said, looking around the living room. He went towards her bedroom as Jess went towards the kitchen.

"Hey Jess, is Vanessa in the kitchen with you?" he asked from the hallway.

"No, why?"

Don made his way into the room. "Cause she's not in her room."

"Vanessa," Jess called out loudly. Both waited in silence for an answer.

Jess grew panicked as she didn't hear anything. "Where is she Don?"

Before he could answer, there was a knock at the door. "That's probably her. Maybe she got locked out talking to Danny," he said, rushing towards the door.

He swung it open, surprised to see who was on the other side. "Danny?"

"Hey," he greeted as Jess came to stand beside Don. He suddenly noticed the panicked on both of there faces. "What wrong?"

Jess ignored his questioned and pushed past him into the hallway. "Vanessa!" she yelled out.

She turned back to Danny and Don as she ran a hand over her face. "She's gone."


End file.
